MICHAEL CRICHTON

measure of intelligence.) The rate of sign acquisition could be taken as ameasure of either the scientist’s skill or the animal’s intelligence.It was by now clearly recognized that different apes had different personalities.As one researcher commented, “Pongid studies are perhaps the only field inwhich academic gossip centers on the students and not the teachers.” In theincreasingly competitive and disputatious world of primate research, it was saidthat Lucy was a drunk, that Koko was an ill-mannered brat, that Lana’s head wasturned by her celebrity (“she only works when there is an interviewer present”),and that Nim was so stupid he should have been named Dim.At first glance, it may seem odd that Peter Elliot should have come underattack, for this handsome, rather shy man—the son of a Manin County librarian—had avoided controversy during his years of work with Amy. Elliot’s publicationswere modest and temperate; his progress with Amywas well documented; he showed no interest in publicity, and was not amongthose researchers who took their apes on the Carson or the Griffin show.But Elliot’s diffident manner concealed not only a quick intelligence, but afierce ambition as well. If he avoided controversy, it was only because he didn’thave time for it—he had been working nights and weekends for years, anddriving his staff and Amy just as hard. He was very good at the business ofscience, getting grants; at all the animal behaviorist conferences, where othersshowed up in jeans and plaid lumberjack shirts, Elliot arrived in a three-piecesuit. Elliot intended to be the foremost ape researcher, and he intended Amy tobe the foremost ape.Elliot’s success in obtaining grants was such that in 1975, Project Amy had anannual budget of $160,000 and a staff of eight, including a child psychologist anda computer programmer. A staff member of the Bergren Institute later said thatElliot’s appeal lay in the fact that he was “a good investment; for example, ProjectAmy got fifty percent more computer time for our money because he went on linewith his time-sharing terminal at night and on weekends, when the time wascheaper. He was very cost-effective. And dedicated, of course: Elliot obviouslycared about nothing in life except his work with Amy. That made him a boringconversationalist but a very good bet, from our standpoint. It’s hard to decidewho’s truly brilliant; it’s easier to see who’s driven, which in the long run may bemore important. We anticipated great things from Elliot.”28