Research Stories

by Margaret Coulombe

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and scientist E. O. Wilson will kick off "ASU Darwinfest," a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth date and the 150th anniversary of his publication of On the Origin of Species.

The university is sponsoring a fresh look at the results of evolutionary theory and its application to science and technology. "How bold ideas can change worlds" sets the tone for a range of exceptional speakers and events, including a Darwin look-alike contest, teacher's workshop, and panel discussions around gender, race, religion, and teaching.

E.O. Wilson: Photo courtesy of Joe D. PrattThe celebration kicks off on Nov. 4, as Wilson speaks about "Darwin and the Future of Science" at 7 p.m. in the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Wilson terms Darwin a "revolutionary" who challenged the social and cultural fabric of his time. But the Darwinian legacy is as much reviled as revered, and this concerns Wilson, as it gets closer to this grand old man of evolutionary fame's 200th birthday. The debate about evolution in the public realm, unlike in scientific circles, is far from over.

So why should people peel themselves away from the television set on election night to attend Wilson's lecture? Because, like Darwin, Wilson has wrought fundamental change in the world, and he has a message of hope—regardless of what side of the political spectrum one falls on—that each of us can be instrumental in preserving our planet or "The Creation," as Wilson terms Earth, without irony.

Wilson has spent considerable time building bridges between those that look askance at Darwin and those who embrace his perspective, and invites people of all faiths to remember that this home we have, this "cradle of life," deserves to be treasured, respected and preserved. Wilson will speak about Darwin's life, his publications (about which Wilson has himself written, From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's four great books) and our shared future on Earth. And while more than half of the American public struggle with Darwin's theories about evolution and natural selection and embrace the notion of intelligent design, Darwin's theories—like those of Copernicus or Galileo before him—set the stage for new understanding of what make us human, and unite us.

Insect super-societies
On Nov. 5, Wilson will join co-author and ASU professor Bert Hölldobler to launch their newest book, The Superorganism, at 6:30 p.m. in the Desert Botanical Gardens.

In the new book, Hölldobler and Wilson share a brilliant new look at social evolution and the remarkable growth of knowledge about social insects during the past two decades.

Hölldobler believes that one of the most exciting frontiers in biology is "the exploration of these insects' remarkable behaviors, and tracking down what makes so many individuals work in synchrony, as a single, highly integrated superorganism." Hölldobler is a key member of the Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which focuses on developing understanding of the roots of such interactions in multiple systems, from ants to humans to computer networks.

The Superorganism is filled with details that will fascinate all readers, for example, how foraging workers of honeybees and ants communicate and direct nestmates to distant food sources, how workers of Diacamma species conduct dominance fights and mutilations in order to regulate reproduction within the colony, and how a queen of an Atta ant colony can live over a decade and produce as many as 150 million daughters.

Both events are free of charge but require ticket reservations. For more information, visit the Darwinfest event page: http://darwin.asu.edu/events.php

Listen to Bert Hölldobler talk about ants and social insects at the "Ask a Biologist" site: http://askabiologist.asu.edu/podcasts/content_logs/vol3_log_aab_podcast.html