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An Indian Tribute to William Morton Wheeler

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Abstract

William Morton Wheeler (1865–1937) was among the greatest experts on ants and his influence on the field of sociobiology, along with that of his academic grandson E. O. Wilson, is second to none. In 1923, Wheeler published his landmark book “Social Life Among the Insects” [1], which marked the beginning of the modern study of insect societies. In this centenary year of its publication, we are honoured and proud to pay tribute to William Morton Wheeler.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Sanjay Sane for reading this article prior to publication and offering helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560 012, India

    Raghavendra Gadagkar

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  1. Raghavendra Gadagkar
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Correspondence to Raghavendra Gadagkar.

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Raghavendra Gadagkar obtained a B.Sc (Hons) and M.Sc. in Zoology from Bangalore University and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. During the past 40 years, he has established an active school of research in the area of Animal Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution. The origin and evolution of cooperation in animals, especially in social insects such as ants, bees and wasps, is a major goal of his research. By identifying and utilizing crucial elements in India’s biodiversity, he has added a special Indian flavour to his research. Gadagkar is now Year of Science Chair Professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Honorary Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, and Senior Fellow, Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Germany. https://sites.google.com/view/raghavendragadagkar

Excerpted with permission from J. Indian Inst. Sci., Vol.103, No.4, pp.949–961, October 2023 journal.iisc.ernet.in

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Gadagkar, R. An Indian Tribute to William Morton Wheeler. Reson 29, 187–207 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-024-0187-1

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