Who is Dr. Charles Dart from Startide Rising and what is their importance? Startide_Rising English & Literature Dr. Charles Dart | Startide Rising

A male neo-chimpanzee planetologist assigned to the exploration vessel Streaker, Charles is self-conscious about innate behaviors—rolling gait, shrieking laughter, and laying his long arms atop his head—that his female human lab partner, Dennie Sudman, fails to notice. Charles still bears the psychological scars from his early career. He completes his graduate work on earthquakes in California, Chile, and Italy, does all of the correct things professionally, but attracts no graduate students to mentor. Charles believes that this is discrimination, which fits in with his studies on the history of human racism and tokenism. Charles admits that his personality turns off co-workers and even fellow chimpanzees, but he is not in a popularity contest. Even his attempts at gallantry usually turn into faux pas. People are no kinder to him than he is to them. Being assigned to Streaker puts him under Dr. Ignazio Metz's thumb, but Charles cozies up, when he makes monumental discoveries that will establish his reputation.