William Morton WheelerDied 19 Apr 1937 at age 72 (born 19 Mar 1865).American entomologist who published extensively on the classification, structure and behaviour of ants, on which he was a recognized world authority. Several of his books became classics, including Ants: Their Structure, Development, and Behavior (1910) and Social Life Among the Insects (1923). Wheeler also wrote on problems of embryology, evolution, parasitism and the social life of animals in general. Thus he was also prominent as an ethologist (a branch of zoology concerning with the scientific study of the behaviour of animals in their natural environment). In fact, he popularized the term “ethology,” in the English language with a paper in Science (1902). Wheeler was contributed in the history and philosophy of science.« |