Desmond Morris, 1928 – 2026

British scientist and TV host Desmond Morris, 98, died on April 19. Morris is best known for his best-selling 1967 book The Naked Ape, a study of monkeys, apes, and humans, which also popularized “ape paintings” (insert your favorite joke about modern art here). Morris wrote countless books on various animals and humans and—before the ubiquitous David Attenborough cornered the market—hosted such TV series as Zoo Time, The World About Us, Nature, The Animal Contract, The Human Sexes, and Expulsion from Paradise. He was also an abstract painter (again, I think a “monkey painting” joke is called for about here). “In my writing, I don’t make many compromises,” Morris told Publisher’s Weekly. “With The Naked Ape, I sat down and I said, ‘I’m going to tell people what kind of animal they are,’ and people said, ‘you can’t write that!’ And I said,’ yes, I can—I write books about animals, and I’m going to write one about the human animal.’”