On Human Nature (inscribed to entomologist Eugene Munroe)
Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1978. First edition. Hardcover. Wilson's first Pulitzer Prize-winning book, and a significant association copy, inscribed in the year of publication on the title page: "For Eugene Munroe, with warm regards, Edward O. Wilson, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, November 24, 1978." Eugene Munroe was a decorated Canadian lepidopterist (moths and butterflies) and a colleague of Wilson's. Significantly, he was actually the first to establish the important theory of island biogeography, which Wilson and Bob MacArthur are credited with, based on his PhD research on West Indian butterflies. As the long obit from the Entomological Society of Canada details: "In 1989, Brown and Lomilino [Ecology, 70: 1054-1957] wrote a note entitled 'Independent Discovery of the Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography.' They asserted that Gene [Munroe] independently discovered this theory and published it in his doctoral dissertation (1948) 15 years prior to MacArthur & Wilson." That theory explains how biodiversity and the number of species on an island (or the equivalent, like mountain range) are defined by the island's size and degree of isolation. See that obit for more on that history. A fascinating association as such, as Munroe is the Alfred Russel Wallace to Wilson's Darwin. Wilson wrote On Human Nature as a synthetic and more accessible sequel to his powerhouse treatise Sociobiology, which argued that behaviors such as altruism and aggression, to name a few key examples, are driven by evolutionary mechanics. On Human Nature has been listed in Time magazine as among the 100 most influential books of the last one hundred years. A near fine book with light rubbing to lower board edges; in a very good jacket with some wear to corners, spine ends, and the rear margin of spine, and perhaps some subtle sunning to spine. Near fine / Very good. Item #1929
ISBN: 9780674634411
Price: $3,750.00 save 5% $3,562.50