Frans de Waal is remembered in science for work that changed what came after it.
The record lists Frans de Waal as Dutch primatologist and ethologist (1948–2024).
Frans de Waal was born in 1948. His recorded nationality is the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He was educated at Utrecht University and University of Groningen.
The twentieth century made work collective, expensive and political, with consequences that reached well beyond the people doing it.
He worked as university teacher, primatologist and ethologist.
His affiliations include Utrecht University.
His principal work is The Age of Empathy. Science advances when somebody insists on measuring what everyone else assumed.
His recorded fields of work are zoology, psychobiology and photography.
Recognition followed: Ig Nobel Prize (2012) and Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.
Working from the Kingdom of the Netherlands shaped what was possible - the audiences within reach, the institutions that would have him, the language the work first appeared in.
Frans de Waal died in 2024, aged 76. What survives is the work, which is the only durable form of a reputation.
Achievements
- Ig Nobel Prize — 2012
- Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
- Notable work: The Age of Empathy
- Affiliated with Utrecht University
- Educated at Utrecht University and University of Groningen
- Worked as university teacher, primatologist and ethologist
