WILSON, Edward O.

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On Human Nature. First edition, presentation copy inscribed by the author on the half-title, "For John Pfeiffer, a profound student of human nature, with thanks and warm regards, Edward O. Wilson, Woods Hole, Mass., 1 September 1978". They were close collaborators: Wilson quotes from Pfeiffer's books and an extract from Pfeiffer's review of Sociobiology (1975) is printed on the jacket flap.Pfeiffer's books The Emergence of Man (1972) and The Emergence of Society (1977) were widely praised for "distilling the great trends in science, evolution, and human affairs [to] interpret this creature called man" (Wertime, p. 509). A prominent journalist and the science editor of Newsweek and CBS, Pfeiffer's review of Sociobiology lauded it as "an evolutionary event in itself, announcing for all who can hear that we are on the verge of breakthroughs in the effort to understand our place in the scheme of things" (New York Times). This copy is annotated in pencil throughout by Pfeiffer.On Human Nature sought to apply Sociobiology's thesis to humans and to make the argument that evolutionary mechanics influence social behaviour more accessible to a popular readership. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize and was named by Time as one of the best non-fiction books written since 1923. The book is also notable for proposing a sociobiological explanation of homosexuality.

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