Book signing by E. O. Wilson at the AMNH. The smiling fellow to the right is yours truly.

Back in June 14th, 2006, Edward O. Wilson delivered a public talk at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (the transcript of which can be read here) on the occasion of his then recently published anthology Nature Revealed: Selected Writings, 1949-2006. I wasn’t going to miss the event, and went to the public section of the museum down from the Ivory Tower research floor of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology.

From a fully packed auditorium E. O. Wilson moved to a crowded book signing, where most people had one of Wilson’s popular books in hand (Concilience, The Future of Life) rather than the anthology. I did not have a copy of this latest book either. However, since I was going to bother him with a signature myself, I decided to do a small thing nice for The man– a person for which all myrmecologists own so much. So I brought down with me a book that I think represents E. O. Wilson’s soul well: the 818 pages, phonebook-sized, massive monograph Pheidole in the New World, and stood close to the end of the long line.

As my turn was getting closer, I could see how tired he was, signing one book after another, without loosing the kindness that characterizes him so well.  My turn. I handed the monograph to him. He paused for a moment, leaned back from the table, and opened his eyes wide at the surprise of seeing a copy of his monumental taxonomic work in front of him. With a big smile on his face said he was not expecting to see this particular book that day. Oh boy! The occasion, he continued, deserved a special big ant. He drew the ant in the image below. Mission accomplished, monotony broken, book signed.

I got the impression that Wilson was delighted. I surely was.