Thomas Eisner
Encyclopedia
Thomas Eisner was a German-American entomologist and ecologist, known as the "father of chemical ecology."
He was a Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology at Cornell University
, and Director of the Cornell Institute for Research in Chemical Ecology (CIRCE). He was a world authority on animal behavior, ecology
, and evolution
, and, together with his Cornell colleague, Jerrold Meinwald, was one of the pioneers of chemical ecology
, the discipline dealing with the chemical interactions of organisms. He was author or co-author of some 400 scientific articles and seven books.
at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Electrochemistry in Berlin, later held a chair for chemistry at Cornell. His mother was an artist Margarete Heil-Eisner. Escaping the Nazi regime, the family moved to Barcelona
and, following the civil war there, to Uruguay
. The Eisners came to the U.S. in 1947.
Thomas Eisner became a naturalized American citizen. He applied to Cornell University
as an undergraduate but was rejected. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University
, and he later joined Cornell’s entomology
faculty in 1957. He married Maria Eisner, who was a member of his lab. In 1964, he helped found the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, where he worked until his death.
In addition to his academic work, he was a passionate nature photographer and videographer
. His film Secret Weapons won the Grand Award at the New York Film Festival
and was named Best Science Film by the British Association for the Advancement of Science
. He was also an avid pianist and occasional conductor.
Eisner died on March 25, 2011, of Parkinson's disease
.
, primarily studying the chemical defense
s of insects against predation
. Some of his most famous work is that of the Bombardier beetle
, which he discovered creates a chemical reaction within its body to shoot boiling noxious liquid from a nozzle in its abdomen.
A field biologist with working experience on four continents, he was also an active conservationist. He served on the Board of Directors of the National Audubon Society
, the National Scientific Council of the Nature Conservancy, and the World Resources Institute Council. He was a past president of the American Society of Natualists, and chairman of the Biology Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
. He played a key role in initiating the Congressional Fellow Program in Washington DC, and in efforts to preserve wilderness areas in Florida
and Texas
.
Eisner was furthermore a member of the National Academy of Sciences
, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
, and the American Philosophical Society
. He received numerous honors, including the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
, the Harvard Centennial Medal
, the 1994 National Medal of Science
and the Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science
. He also held honorary degrees from universities in Sweden
, Germany
, Switzerland
and the United States
, and was a foreign fellow of the Royal Society. Eisner was additionally a member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina and Academia Europaea
.
In 2008, Eisner was awarded the John J. Carty Award by the National Academy of Sciences
.
He was a Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, and Director of the Cornell Institute for Research in Chemical Ecology (CIRCE). He was a world authority on animal behavior, ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, and evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
, and, together with his Cornell colleague, Jerrold Meinwald, was one of the pioneers of chemical ecology
Chemical ecology
Chemical ecology is the study of the chemicals involved in the interactions of living organisms. It focuses on the production of and response to signaling molecules and toxins. Chemical ecology is of particular importance among ants and other social insects – including bees, wasps, and termites –...
, the discipline dealing with the chemical interactions of organisms. He was author or co-author of some 400 scientific articles and seven books.
Personal life
Thomas Eisner was born on June 25, 1929 in Berlin, Germany. His father Hans Eisner, of Jewish origin, was the chemist and a coworker of Fritz HaberFritz Haber
Fritz Haber was a German chemist, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his development for synthesizing ammonia, important for fertilizers and explosives. Haber, along with Max Born, proposed the Born–Haber cycle as a method for evaluating the lattice energy of an ionic solid...
at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Electrochemistry in Berlin, later held a chair for chemistry at Cornell. His mother was an artist Margarete Heil-Eisner. Escaping the Nazi regime, the family moved to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and, following the civil war there, to Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. The Eisners came to the U.S. in 1947.
Thomas Eisner became a naturalized American citizen. He applied to Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
as an undergraduate but was rejected. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and he later joined Cornell’s entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
faculty in 1957. He married Maria Eisner, who was a member of his lab. In 1964, he helped found the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, where he worked until his death.
In addition to his academic work, he was a passionate nature photographer and videographer
Videographer
Strictly speaking, a videographer is a person who works in the field of videography, video production — recording moving images and sound on video tape, disk, other electro-mechanical device. News broadcasting relies heavily on live television where videographers engage in electronic news...
. His film Secret Weapons won the Grand Award at the New York Film Festival
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
and was named Best Science Film by the British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
. He was also an avid pianist and occasional conductor.
Eisner died on March 25, 2011, of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
.
Work
Eisner's main body of work was in chemical ecologyChemical ecology
Chemical ecology is the study of the chemicals involved in the interactions of living organisms. It focuses on the production of and response to signaling molecules and toxins. Chemical ecology is of particular importance among ants and other social insects – including bees, wasps, and termites –...
, primarily studying the chemical defense
Chemical defense
Chemical defense is the use of compounds by plants and animals to deter herbivory and predation.-In plants:Chemical defense against herbivory is common. The production of capsaicin in many strains of bell peppers is one such defense familiar to humans....
s of insects against predation
Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...
. Some of his most famous work is that of the Bombardier beetle
Bombardier beetle
Bombardier beetles are ground beetles in the tribes Brachinini, Paussini, Ozaenini, or Metriini—more than 500 species altogether—which are most notable for the defense mechanism that gives them their name: When disturbed, the beetle ejects a noxious chemical spray in a rapid burst of pulses from...
, which he discovered creates a chemical reaction within its body to shoot boiling noxious liquid from a nozzle in its abdomen.
A field biologist with working experience on four continents, he was also an active conservationist. He served on the Board of Directors of the National Audubon Society
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation. Incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world and uses science, education and grassroots advocacy to advance its conservation mission...
, the National Scientific Council of the Nature Conservancy, and the World Resources Institute Council. He was a past president of the American Society of Natualists, and chairman of the Biology Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
. He played a key role in initiating the Congressional Fellow Program in Washington DC, and in efforts to preserve wilderness areas in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Eisner was furthermore a member of the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, and the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
. He received numerous honors, including the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is an award for environmental science, environmental health and energy. Tyler Laureates receive a $200,000 annual prize and a gold medallion...
, the Harvard Centennial Medal
Harvard Centennial Medal
The Harvard Centennial Medal is an honor given by the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to recipients of graduate degrees from the School for their "contributions to society."...
, the 1994 National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
and the Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science
Lewis Thomas Prize
The Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science, named for its first recipient, Lewis Thomas, is an annual literary prize awarded by Rockefeller University to scientists deemed to have accomplished a significant literary achievement: it "recognizes scientists as poets"...
. He also held honorary degrees from universities in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and was a foreign fellow of the Royal Society. Eisner was additionally a member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina and Academia Europaea
Academia Europaea
Academia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....
.
In 2008, Eisner was awarded the John J. Carty Award by the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
.
Publications
- Eisner, T, (2003) For Love of Insects. Harvard University Press.
- Eisner, T, Eisner, M, & Siegler, M, (2005) SECRET WEAPONS: Defenses of Insects, Spiders, Scorpions, and Other Many-Legged Creatures. Harvard University Press.