Nature Revealed

Edward O. Wilson is an entomologist and biologist known for his pioneering work on evolution and sociobiology, and is often referred to as the father of sociobiology and modern biodiversity studies. He has authored many books, including Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975), On Human Nature (winner of a 1979 Pulitzer Prize), The Ants (winner of a 1991 Pulitzer Prize), and Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998). He has received over one hundred awards, many of them international, in science and letters. He is the Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.

Showcases the biologist's special talents for extrapolating global theories from arcane and detailed research... Enlightening and thought-provoking. Library Journal 2006 Nature Revealed demonstrates, again and again, Wilson's endless capacity to put scientific findings into a broader context and to bridge gaps between disciplines. Nature 2006 E.O. Wilson's many contributions to science can hardly be summarized in a newspaper column, but the highlights are well preserved in Nature Revealed. -- Whit Gibbons Aiken Standard 2006 This book captures the key elements in this gifted explorer's complex journey so far. Choice 2006 This book is a treasure trove of ideas... It always rewards. -- J. Stewart British Journal of Entomology and Natural History 2008 Lucid and eminently readable... a valuable primer for those interested in the history of science. Quarterly Review of Biology 2008

• PrefacePart I: Ants and Sociobiology1. Richteri, the fire ant2. Variation and adaptation in the imported fire ant3. The origin and evolution of polymorphism in ants4. Quantitative studies of liquid food transmission in ants5. The beginnings of nomadic and group-predatory behavior in the ponerine ants6. Source and possible nature of the odor trail of fire ants7. Chemical communication among workers of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima (Fr. Smith), 1. The organization ofmass-foraging8. Phermones9. The first Mesozoic ants10. The ergonomics of caste in the social insects11. The prospect for a unified sociobiology12. Slavery in ants13. Sociobiology: The new synthesis14. Sociobiology at century's end15. Human decency is animal16. Behavioral discretization and the number of castes in an antspecies17. The organization of colony defense in the ant Pheidole dentataMayr18. The number of queens: An important trait in ant evolution19. The ethical implications of human sociobiology20. Caste and division of labor in leaf-cutter ants21. Précis of Genes, Mind, and Culture22. The relation between caste ratios and division of labor in theant genus Pheidole23. The sociogenesis of insect colonies24. Between-caste aversion as a basis for division of labor in the ant Pheidole pubiventris25. The earliest known ants: An analysis of the Cretaceous species and an inference concerning their social organization26. The dominance of social insects27. The effects of complex social life on evolution and biodiversity28. Pheidole nasutoides, a new species of Costa Rican ant that apparently mimics termites29. In memory of William Louis Brown30. Ant plagues: A centuries-old mystery solvedPart II: Biodiversity Studies: Systematics and Biogeography31. The subspecies concept and its taxonomic application32. Character displacement33. Patchy distributions of ant species in New Guinea rain forests34. The nature of the taxon cycle in the Melanesian ant fauna35. An equilibrium theory of island biogeography36. A consistency test for phylogenies based on contemporaneous species37. The challenge from related species38. An estimate of the potential evolutionary increase in species density in the Polynesian ant fauna39. The species equilibrium40. The plight of taxonomy41. The biogeography of the West Indian ants42. Editor's foreword (from Biodiversity)43. The current state of biological diversity44. Threats to biodiversity45. The high frontier46. The origins of hyperdiversity47. A global biodiversity map48. On the future of conservation biology49. The encyclopedia of life50. Taxonomy as a fundamental disciplinePart III: Conservation and the Human Condition51. The conservation of life52. Applied biogeography53. Resolutions for the 80s54. The biological diversity crisis: A challenge to science55. Outcry from a world of wounds56. The little things that run the world57. The coming pluralization of biology and the stewardship of systematics58. Biophilia and the conservation ethic59. Is humanity suicidal?60. Consilience among the great branches of learning61. Integrated science and the coming century of the environmentAppendix: The Published Works of Edward O. WilsonIndex