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Naturalist
A vibrant graphic adaptation of the classic science memoir
Regarded as one of the world’s preeminent biologists, Edward O. Wilson spent his boyhood exploring the forests and swamps of south Alabama and the Florida panhandle, collecting snakes, butterflies, and ants—the latter to become his lifelong specialty. His memoir Naturalist, called “one of the finest scientific memoirs ever written” by the Los Angeles Times, is an inspiring account of Wilson’s growth as a scientist and the evolution of the fields he helped define. This graphic edition, adapted by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by C.M.Butzer, brings Wilson’s childhood and celebrated career to life through dynamic full-color illustrations and Wilson’s own lyric writing.
In this adaptation of Naturalist, vivid illustrations draw readers in to Wilson’s lifelong quest to explore and protect the natural world. His success began not with an elite education but an insatiable curiosity about Earth’s wild creatures, and this new edition of Naturalist makes Wilson’s work accessible for anyone who shares his passion. On every page, striking art adds immediacy and highlights the warmth and sense of humor that sets Wilson’s writing apart.
Naturalist was written as an invitation—a reminder that curiosity is vital and scientific exploration is open to all of us. Each dynamic frame of this graphic adaptation deepens Wilson’s message, renewing his call to discover and celebrate the little things of the world.
Regarded as one of the world’s preeminent biologists, Edward O. Wilson spent his boyhood exploring the forests and swamps of south Alabama and the Florida panhandle, collecting snakes, butterflies, and ants—the latter to become his lifelong specialty. His memoir Naturalist, called “one of the finest scientific memoirs ever written” by the Los Angeles Times, is an inspiring account of Wilson’s growth as a scientist and the evolution of the fields he helped define. This graphic edition, adapted by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by C.M.Butzer, brings Wilson’s childhood and celebrated career to life through dynamic full-color illustrations and Wilson’s own lyric writing.
In this adaptation of Naturalist, vivid illustrations draw readers in to Wilson’s lifelong quest to explore and protect the natural world. His success began not with an elite education but an insatiable curiosity about Earth’s wild creatures, and this new edition of Naturalist makes Wilson’s work accessible for anyone who shares his passion. On every page, striking art adds immediacy and highlights the warmth and sense of humor that sets Wilson’s writing apart.
Naturalist was written as an invitation—a reminder that curiosity is vital and scientific exploration is open to all of us. Each dynamic frame of this graphic adaptation deepens Wilson’s message, renewing his call to discover and celebrate the little things of the world.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published November 10, 2020
21 people are currently reading
1766 people want to read
About the author
Jim Ottaviani
23 books297 followersI've worked at news agencies and golf courses in the Chicagoland area, nuclear reactors in the U.S. and Japan, and libraries in Michigan. When I'm not staying up late writing comics about scientists, I'm spraining my ankles and flattening my feet by running on trails. Or I'm reading. I read a lot.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
January 9, 2021
One might hypothesize that the autobiographies of entomologists are boring. Based on this single data point, we are one step closer to proof. But due to harmful effects upon the researcher, work on the project has been suspended, and it will remain an unsolved mystery of science.
November 24, 2020
It’s interesting how many different books get adapted graphically these days. It certainly challenges my fairly traditional idea of graphic novels as fun comic book adventure compilations. And I’m thrilled about it, typically. Although this book kind of pushed my limits.
Ok, so I don’t have the most scientifically inclined of brains, but nevertheless I can get on with some sciences more than others (astronomy, archeology, anthropology, psychology, etc.) and I believe I can enjoy most others if they are presented correctly. This book heavy on biology and entomology might have been interesting to me the way a David Attenborough program usually is, but somehow it didn’t do the trick.
It’s a fine book, it has exciting properly colored art, it’s based on a much lauded memoir by one of the best scientific minds in his field, E.O. Wilson, who won not one but two Pulitzer Prizes for nonfiction books and made hugely significant contributions not only to his main fields of study but also to evolutionary biology in general. The man even got into some controversy heated waters with some of his views on genetic predeterminism back in the day. That’s all very interesting…objectively. It’s certainly memoir worthy.
This is important, because memoirs seem to be very popular these days and everyone’s penning them, even people who by any standard haven’t yet lived that long or done that much.
So Wilson’s memoir follows a traditional narrative structure, starting with childhood and it turns out that young Ed was one of those fortunate people who figured out what they are passionate about early in life and dedicated their entire life to just that. And so from a kid fascinated by nature and some of its smallest creatures to a grown man, married with a tenured professor position, Wilson has always been a naturalist. A natural born naturalist, if you will. Whether pursuing this in his own backyard or all the way on the other side of the world.
An admirable sort of singlemindedness, but does it make for a compelling story? Not so much, as it turns out.
It’s an admirable life of an admirable mind, unquestionably so. But for me, a person who doesn’t really love memoirs, there needs to be more to the story. I’m not talking salacious details or dirt or even necessarily turbulence, just…more. And in this memoir, you don’t’ get much of a story of a man’s journey through life, it’s more of a scientist’s journey. Maybe the two are just inseparable. Maybe Wilson is just very private. But after he exists childhood, there’s barely any details about his personal life or the world around him, his wife is a distance supporting character, someone to write letters to or use as a sounding board, his child barely mentioned. The entire thing is just one discovery after another, one theory after the next, people enter his life as coworkers or assistants and then disappear. Personalities are usually barely mentioned, expect for Watson (the DNA guy) whom Wilson apparently detested.
The scientific language and the specifics get overwhelming for a layperson, perfectly comprehensible, but overwhelming, unless you have dedicated interest to the subjects, like Wilson does. There is some excitement here…Wilson’s travels to distant exotic locales and yes, that controversy which is obviously a source of considerable bitterness. In theory, it’s fascinating to behold the results of a mind as great as that but trained specifically in other creatures taking on people by extending the same analytical methods. It’s also a great discussion topic.
But in general, this book didn’t quite work for me. Though educational, it didn’t really engage my interest all that much and it kind of dragged. A very serious memoir by a very serious man. Took a long while to get through, for a graphic novel. Always excited to acquire knowledge, I’m glad to have learned about Wilson, but can’t say it was an especially exciting lesson. User mileage may vary, in direct proportion to personal interest in biology.
Ok, so I don’t have the most scientifically inclined of brains, but nevertheless I can get on with some sciences more than others (astronomy, archeology, anthropology, psychology, etc.) and I believe I can enjoy most others if they are presented correctly. This book heavy on biology and entomology might have been interesting to me the way a David Attenborough program usually is, but somehow it didn’t do the trick.
It’s a fine book, it has exciting properly colored art, it’s based on a much lauded memoir by one of the best scientific minds in his field, E.O. Wilson, who won not one but two Pulitzer Prizes for nonfiction books and made hugely significant contributions not only to his main fields of study but also to evolutionary biology in general. The man even got into some controversy heated waters with some of his views on genetic predeterminism back in the day. That’s all very interesting…objectively. It’s certainly memoir worthy.
This is important, because memoirs seem to be very popular these days and everyone’s penning them, even people who by any standard haven’t yet lived that long or done that much.
So Wilson’s memoir follows a traditional narrative structure, starting with childhood and it turns out that young Ed was one of those fortunate people who figured out what they are passionate about early in life and dedicated their entire life to just that. And so from a kid fascinated by nature and some of its smallest creatures to a grown man, married with a tenured professor position, Wilson has always been a naturalist. A natural born naturalist, if you will. Whether pursuing this in his own backyard or all the way on the other side of the world.
An admirable sort of singlemindedness, but does it make for a compelling story? Not so much, as it turns out.
It’s an admirable life of an admirable mind, unquestionably so. But for me, a person who doesn’t really love memoirs, there needs to be more to the story. I’m not talking salacious details or dirt or even necessarily turbulence, just…more. And in this memoir, you don’t’ get much of a story of a man’s journey through life, it’s more of a scientist’s journey. Maybe the two are just inseparable. Maybe Wilson is just very private. But after he exists childhood, there’s barely any details about his personal life or the world around him, his wife is a distance supporting character, someone to write letters to or use as a sounding board, his child barely mentioned. The entire thing is just one discovery after another, one theory after the next, people enter his life as coworkers or assistants and then disappear. Personalities are usually barely mentioned, expect for Watson (the DNA guy) whom Wilson apparently detested.
The scientific language and the specifics get overwhelming for a layperson, perfectly comprehensible, but overwhelming, unless you have dedicated interest to the subjects, like Wilson does. There is some excitement here…Wilson’s travels to distant exotic locales and yes, that controversy which is obviously a source of considerable bitterness. In theory, it’s fascinating to behold the results of a mind as great as that but trained specifically in other creatures taking on people by extending the same analytical methods. It’s also a great discussion topic.
But in general, this book didn’t quite work for me. Though educational, it didn’t really engage my interest all that much and it kind of dragged. A very serious memoir by a very serious man. Took a long while to get through, for a graphic novel. Always excited to acquire knowledge, I’m glad to have learned about Wilson, but can’t say it was an especially exciting lesson. User mileage may vary, in direct proportion to personal interest in biology.
Read
April 18, 2021Reading this took me quite a while. There were quite complex terms and words I didn't understand without dictionary. But I found this story interesting and captivating! I actually like reading graphic adaptations this was the first of memoir.
December 2, 2023
You know how sometimes you read a book and you want to invite everyone over for dinner? Not this one.
Mostly, I hated this book. The illustrations are pitiful and only rarely illustrative—that is, they only occasionally advance the text. Proportion is all over the place and most of the characters are cookie-cutters—the same body and basic face. The older Wilson who often stands beside his younger self is an exception, and that juxtaposition works well on some pages. However, Wilson himself puts me off at times. He had a terrible childhood which may explain his coldness, his indifference. He is candid about people he does not like, rarely explaining his reasons. And why brag about how easy it was to gain permission to tent entire islets and poison all life within to prove your mathematical theory?
The book begins with introducing Wilson's love of ants by squishing one to point out what it smells like. These are choices from the author. Wilson admits he chooses ants as his subject because he wants to be famous and no one else is studying them, but later he admits to mistakes. Sort of. Broken chronology and occasional lack of clarity hurt the story and the science. And then the font is a barrier. It is all caps in a font similar to Comic Sans, which would be awkward to read even if it were not sometimes shrunk to 6 point.
Wilson finds ants to be beautiful, "clean and decorative," but the illustrations here provide no insight to this appeal. The illustrations are part of the problem. The inking is thick, coarse, and disproportionate—the largest ant in the world is no more than 4cm, but some shown here look at least 5cm in proportion to context, in some illustrations human arms are too short or too long, and Black students in a 1937 military academy in Mississippi? The layout is conventional and rarely imaginative. I would count page 65 where the young Wilson hands an old Wilson in the next panel a sample bottle as among the best. Most pages are divided into six boxes—over and over and over for most of over 200 pages. Page 114 offers a rare single panel with Wilson and a comrade shown in multiple places in a valley, searching for ants through the night. Overall, the book has its moments and is better in its final fifty pages than in its beginning.
I used to teach graphic novels, and this is not a good one. There are brilliant graphic books out there, many of them nonfiction. Allison Bechtel has a couple that are worth anyone's time. This one was a slog.
My granddaughter loves Primates about Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by the same author, but that book has gorgeous illustrations by Maris Wicks, uses upper and lower case font for ease of reading. Even with that one I had a few issues with the story (as best I can recall) because I am familiar with the science and scientists and their biographies. That book is interesting to an adult but is attractive and clear enough to appeal to young readers.
The target audience for Naturalist is certainly not children, is not specific and detailed enough for the general public, and surely fails as a textbook for biologists. Maybe read the memoir upon which it is based.
I thank the publishers for this copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Mostly, I hated this book. The illustrations are pitiful and only rarely illustrative—that is, they only occasionally advance the text. Proportion is all over the place and most of the characters are cookie-cutters—the same body and basic face. The older Wilson who often stands beside his younger self is an exception, and that juxtaposition works well on some pages. However, Wilson himself puts me off at times. He had a terrible childhood which may explain his coldness, his indifference. He is candid about people he does not like, rarely explaining his reasons. And why brag about how easy it was to gain permission to tent entire islets and poison all life within to prove your mathematical theory?
The book begins with introducing Wilson's love of ants by squishing one to point out what it smells like. These are choices from the author. Wilson admits he chooses ants as his subject because he wants to be famous and no one else is studying them, but later he admits to mistakes. Sort of. Broken chronology and occasional lack of clarity hurt the story and the science. And then the font is a barrier. It is all caps in a font similar to Comic Sans, which would be awkward to read even if it were not sometimes shrunk to 6 point.
Wilson finds ants to be beautiful, "clean and decorative," but the illustrations here provide no insight to this appeal. The illustrations are part of the problem. The inking is thick, coarse, and disproportionate—the largest ant in the world is no more than 4cm, but some shown here look at least 5cm in proportion to context, in some illustrations human arms are too short or too long, and Black students in a 1937 military academy in Mississippi? The layout is conventional and rarely imaginative. I would count page 65 where the young Wilson hands an old Wilson in the next panel a sample bottle as among the best. Most pages are divided into six boxes—over and over and over for most of over 200 pages. Page 114 offers a rare single panel with Wilson and a comrade shown in multiple places in a valley, searching for ants through the night. Overall, the book has its moments and is better in its final fifty pages than in its beginning.
I used to teach graphic novels, and this is not a good one. There are brilliant graphic books out there, many of them nonfiction. Allison Bechtel has a couple that are worth anyone's time. This one was a slog.
My granddaughter loves Primates about Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by the same author, but that book has gorgeous illustrations by Maris Wicks, uses upper and lower case font for ease of reading. Even with that one I had a few issues with the story (as best I can recall) because I am familiar with the science and scientists and their biographies. That book is interesting to an adult but is attractive and clear enough to appeal to young readers.
The target audience for Naturalist is certainly not children, is not specific and detailed enough for the general public, and surely fails as a textbook for biologists. Maybe read the memoir upon which it is based.
I thank the publishers for this copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
November 12, 2020
Excellent graphics to showcase Edward O Wilson’s memoirs.
I immediately related to both Edward Wilson and the outstanding graphics the minute I opened the book. Like him, when I was a very young child, my father took me to an ant farm which had suddenly appeared at our front gate and sitting next to me explained how ants socialise, move weights far more significant than their weight and help to keep the earth clean. It is one of the clearest memories I have of my childhood and my father’s encouragement to study nature.
I can’t think of a better way to encourage youngsters to get out into the countryside to look at nature than through graphics and memoirs of men like Prof. Wilson. There are so many facets of nature to fascinate, enthral and educate young people and yes – take their laptops or mobiles with them on the journey – to identify, photograph and record their findings. Like Prof Wilson, they might never lose the hunger for discovering rare or even species on the brink of extinction and go onto much greater achievements in the future. If I could have my life over, I know that my passion for nature would become my vocation and career.
Reading this hugely different portrayal in the graphic format of someone’s life is fascinating. It’s no longer only words that my brain is absorbing but pictures as well. They imbed themselves more in-depth into my consciousness so that I can go back and study them at will and should the picture fade, I can reread the graphic book.
Bravo Jim Ottaviani and CM Butzer for creating this book. Bravo also to Prof Wilson for sharing his memoir with the world. He’s on my bucket list of people I’d most like to meet in life.
Rony
Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.
I immediately related to both Edward Wilson and the outstanding graphics the minute I opened the book. Like him, when I was a very young child, my father took me to an ant farm which had suddenly appeared at our front gate and sitting next to me explained how ants socialise, move weights far more significant than their weight and help to keep the earth clean. It is one of the clearest memories I have of my childhood and my father’s encouragement to study nature.
I can’t think of a better way to encourage youngsters to get out into the countryside to look at nature than through graphics and memoirs of men like Prof. Wilson. There are so many facets of nature to fascinate, enthral and educate young people and yes – take their laptops or mobiles with them on the journey – to identify, photograph and record their findings. Like Prof Wilson, they might never lose the hunger for discovering rare or even species on the brink of extinction and go onto much greater achievements in the future. If I could have my life over, I know that my passion for nature would become my vocation and career.
Reading this hugely different portrayal in the graphic format of someone’s life is fascinating. It’s no longer only words that my brain is absorbing but pictures as well. They imbed themselves more in-depth into my consciousness so that I can go back and study them at will and should the picture fade, I can reread the graphic book.
Bravo Jim Ottaviani and CM Butzer for creating this book. Bravo also to Prof Wilson for sharing his memoir with the world. He’s on my bucket list of people I’d most like to meet in life.
Rony
Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.
August 25, 2021
Despite feeling fairly confidently versed in the realm of "cool scientists," I had never heard of Edward O. Wilson before reading this graphic adaptation of his memoirs. Boy was I missing out! This dude was everywhere! If nothing else, I'd recommend reading Naturalist to round out your knowledge of biology and ecology in the 20th century. There's a lot I didn't know.
That said, Naturalist is not exactly for the layman. Wilson (and adapter Jim Ottaviani) do a decent job of explaining complex science in an easy-to-understand way, but there is a lot of science to explain here. Just when you finish reading about one of Wilson's major accomplishments, he starts in on the next one. Dude's got like, six major accomplishments!
It also doesn't help that Naturalist is dense with text. It's almost as if Ottaviani borrowed the entirety of Wilson's memoir rather than paring it down for the new format. Also also: the font size definitely gets smaller as the book progresses. Not ideal.
Even with these negatives, I'd say Naturalist is worth a look. I think I learned a lot - or at least came away with a real appreciation for Wilson and biology/ecology/sociobiology. We need more scientists like him, dedicated to the craft! The art is pretty swell too, so at least it's easy on the eyes, even if you can't read the ant-size text.
That said, Naturalist is not exactly for the layman. Wilson (and adapter Jim Ottaviani) do a decent job of explaining complex science in an easy-to-understand way, but there is a lot of science to explain here. Just when you finish reading about one of Wilson's major accomplishments, he starts in on the next one. Dude's got like, six major accomplishments!
It also doesn't help that Naturalist is dense with text. It's almost as if Ottaviani borrowed the entirety of Wilson's memoir rather than paring it down for the new format. Also also: the font size definitely gets smaller as the book progresses. Not ideal.
Even with these negatives, I'd say Naturalist is worth a look. I think I learned a lot - or at least came away with a real appreciation for Wilson and biology/ecology/sociobiology. We need more scientists like him, dedicated to the craft! The art is pretty swell too, so at least it's easy on the eyes, even if you can't read the ant-size text.
January 17, 2022
I probably picked this up at the wrong time, and I might revisit it at some later date.
This graphic biography of Edward O. Wilson is a very detailed and text heavy comic, and while I appreciated learning about the man and his passions, for some reason this simply didn't work for me. I'd put it down and not want to pick it back up. After several tries, onto the DNF pile it went.
The illustration style of Jim Ottaviani is really good, and what one would expect of him. Just not for me at that moment in time.
This graphic biography of Edward O. Wilson is a very detailed and text heavy comic, and while I appreciated learning about the man and his passions, for some reason this simply didn't work for me. I'd put it down and not want to pick it back up. After several tries, onto the DNF pile it went.
The illustration style of Jim Ottaviani is really good, and what one would expect of him. Just not for me at that moment in time.
October 10, 2025
E O. Wilson is one of my favorite nonfiction writers and an American hero who more of us should have listened to. one day he will be on a stamp. He has won 2 Pulitzer Prizes.
This is a nice graphic novel based on Professor Wilson's autobiography and published by a not-for-profit house.
The drawings are comic strip-like and mostly uninspired, but Wilson's is here and his story is told in his own words.
This is a nice graphic novel based on Professor Wilson's autobiography and published by a not-for-profit house.
The drawings are comic strip-like and mostly uninspired, but Wilson's is here and his story is told in his own words.
Want to read
October 20, 2020I just read the excerpt on The Millions and now I know I NEED to read this. It looks fantastic!!! I love how they drew older Wilson and young Wilson in the same panels together, with older Wilson talking about young Wilson's decisions, or helping him up.
https://themillions.com/2020/10/panel...
https://themillions.com/2020/10/panel...
December 16, 2020
I loved this book. I'm becoming a huge fan of non-fiction graphic novels as a way of learning history in particular but also Science and absorbing lots of information in a quick and accessible form. I think Jim Ottaviani wrote the excellent one on Richard Feynman. The illustrations are attractive and the colours gorgeous. It was a nice touch to show the older E. O. Wilson standing next to his younger self. The book ranged widely over E. O. Wilson's life and included complex ideas in biology, sociobiology and ecology which I had to work at understanding due to lack of knowledge of Biology. Highly recommended!
January 10, 2021
Lovely treatment about Wilson’s early life, and his scientific endeavours in ant systematics, island biogeography, sociobiology. Skips a few story arcs to be manageable, but what a treat!
August 1, 2021
Fascinating.
January 2, 2021
This is a memoir with pictures....and lots of talking. As a “graphic adaptation” it resembles a comic book with an abundance of 6 panel pages and the occasional full page spread. It traces the life of its subject, Edward O. Wilson, a famous academic and author, from childhood to now. But the subject is more Wilson’s curiosity and obsessions and theories and the academic fields, some quite controversial, that he helped define.
I read devotedly for at least a third of the book until his obsession with ants started to bore me. Or better put, I felt that whatever I might learn from another hundred pages of that didn’t seem worth the effort. But as I skimmed through, I saw interesting pictures and read bits and pieces that showed the controversies he encountered, so I read here and there and went back and read there and here.
I realized that the later half of this book is very academic and more technical than I wanted at times. It was still interesting as I noted the various fields he either started or supported (and which I knew little about) but this book, a “graphic adaptation,” told me almost too much about them. What was most interesting to me was the evolution of his interests, the way his studies influenced his knowledge which led to another connected interest which transitioned onto something else. Biogeography. Sociobiology. Biodiversity. Biophilia. A truly curious scientific mind.
As I stated in the beginning, there is a lot of text to read as there is a lot to explain. This traces his academic career also and gives credit to his many accomplices and collaborators. A reader more inclined toward these areas of study might find this fascinating but I only found it on and off interesting.
I read devotedly for at least a third of the book until his obsession with ants started to bore me. Or better put, I felt that whatever I might learn from another hundred pages of that didn’t seem worth the effort. But as I skimmed through, I saw interesting pictures and read bits and pieces that showed the controversies he encountered, so I read here and there and went back and read there and here.
I realized that the later half of this book is very academic and more technical than I wanted at times. It was still interesting as I noted the various fields he either started or supported (and which I knew little about) but this book, a “graphic adaptation,” told me almost too much about them. What was most interesting to me was the evolution of his interests, the way his studies influenced his knowledge which led to another connected interest which transitioned onto something else. Biogeography. Sociobiology. Biodiversity. Biophilia. A truly curious scientific mind.
As I stated in the beginning, there is a lot of text to read as there is a lot to explain. This traces his academic career also and gives credit to his many accomplices and collaborators. A reader more inclined toward these areas of study might find this fascinating but I only found it on and off interesting.
May 31, 2022
I enjoyed reading this book but also have mixed feelings. I enjoyed learning the life of this scientist whom I'd previously known nothing about, and seeing how he came to be the person he is. I am inspired by his curiosity and love of nature and creatures. But I was disappointed with his lack of curiosity into the critiques of his work and willingness to engage them more honestly. I also would have liked to hear more about his work later in life to become an activist for biodiversity. He clearly missed the connections between his activism and the activism of those critiquing his work for spreading white supremacy and racism (words he barely used and was hardly comfortable engaging with). I also wish he had talked more about the women that made his career possible, including his wife, typist/editor and illustrators.
June 25, 2022
I read this book about a year after reading the original version of the memoir, which I also rated highly, as Wilson was an accomplished and engaging writer. Perhaps counterintuitively I found that the original memoir better depicted Wilson’s deep engagement with and love for the natural world, while the graphic version focused more on his philosophical and scientific development. Either way, they complement one another well, and I came away from the graphic version with a clearer understanding of the highlights and controversies in Wilson’s career, particular that of sociobiology and Wilson’s early and fraught foray into the role of evolution in human societies, which, rightly or not, no one else really cared to tackle at the time because of the political associations. I hope we have come to a point where Wilson’s overall scientific legacy endures as it is vast, including maybe 20 highly readable and accessible volumes in addition to more strictly academic works. In response to an offhand dismissal by an acquaintance who was involved in anti-racist work at the time, he is not a Nazi!
February 24, 2021
As one of the 1.87 million people who are part of the FaceBook group “A group where we all pretend to be ants in an ant colony,” this graphic novel particularly delighted me at this moment in history. Wilson is an excellent memoirist, and Ottaviani excels at turning stories into graphic novels. Interesting story, the images that add to it, and ANTS! (He’s a myrmecologist… an entomologist who specializes in ants… does that make him an ANT-omologist? LOL)
February 14, 2021
A good, fast read. The graphic novel format is very well suited to the topic, and seeing the characters directly helped me remember and care about the characters (who are real, of course). I enjoyed the bits on theory most.
Read
November 5, 2021I have really liked some of Ottoviani's other books (and I love nonfiction graphic novels) but I just couldn't get into this one. I read the first half and skimmed over the second half and found it very dull. I can't recommend this one.
November 10, 2020
Liked the complexity of thoughts delivered through graphics. Long, but value for money.
July 5, 2021
Excellent and engaging
June 19, 2021
4 1/2 stars.
Wow am I grateful for another Ottaviani treatment of a fascinating science topic I otherwise would not have read. This illustrated version of E. O. Wilson's autobiography literally illuminates and makes visible the massive discoveries, deep self-reflection, wry humor and uncomfortable controversy and politicization of the biological sciences during Wilson's remarkable career. Highly recommended, and you wont look at ants the same way again.
Wow am I grateful for another Ottaviani treatment of a fascinating science topic I otherwise would not have read. This illustrated version of E. O. Wilson's autobiography literally illuminates and makes visible the massive discoveries, deep self-reflection, wry humor and uncomfortable controversy and politicization of the biological sciences during Wilson's remarkable career. Highly recommended, and you wont look at ants the same way again.
April 25, 2021
I read E.O. Wilson’s biography some time ago and really enjoyed it. I also liked this graphic version and it was fun to read about fellow scientists who I’ve met. I passed it on to my mom to read and she loved it too so you don’t have to be an ecologist to enjoy the book.
February 22, 2021
Ants. Florida Keys. Sociobiology. Memoir. Jim Ottaviani.
October 4, 2020
This was a fun and fascinating read. An interesting way to learn something new!
May 6, 2021
Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation is a biographical graphic novel adapted by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by C.M. Butzer based on the original text written by Edward O. Wilson. Ottaviani skillfully adapts Wilson's spirited 1994 memoir into a graphic narrative full of personality, but without skimping on the science.
Edward Osborne Wilson is an American biologist, naturalist, and writer. Wilson is an influential biologist who on numerous occasions has been given the nicknames "The New Darwin", "Darwin's natural heir" or "The Darwin of the 21st century". His biological specialty is myrmecology, the study of ants, on which he has been called the world's leading expert.
Wilson, the famed ecologist and self-proclaimed "naturalist hobo," illuminates big ideas by celebrating the small things in life. His memoir spans an unpretentious, joyful life spent reveling in the natural world and defending the field of ecology. From his childhood in the 1930s and 40s, where Wilson studied the world around him, catching snakes and dissecting anthills to his standing as the next Darwin.
Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation is written, research, and constructed rather well. Ottaviani's adaptation and Butzer's art adds good-natured visual humor. Butzer's clean line work helps an occasionally entomologically dense text become breezy and accessible, though Wilson would surely appreciate how all the flora and fauna are labeled with their scientific names.
All in all, Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation is a hearty graphic memoir, which is poised to inspire a new generation of naturalists.
Edward Osborne Wilson is an American biologist, naturalist, and writer. Wilson is an influential biologist who on numerous occasions has been given the nicknames "The New Darwin", "Darwin's natural heir" or "The Darwin of the 21st century". His biological specialty is myrmecology, the study of ants, on which he has been called the world's leading expert.
Wilson, the famed ecologist and self-proclaimed "naturalist hobo," illuminates big ideas by celebrating the small things in life. His memoir spans an unpretentious, joyful life spent reveling in the natural world and defending the field of ecology. From his childhood in the 1930s and 40s, where Wilson studied the world around him, catching snakes and dissecting anthills to his standing as the next Darwin.
Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation is written, research, and constructed rather well. Ottaviani's adaptation and Butzer's art adds good-natured visual humor. Butzer's clean line work helps an occasionally entomologically dense text become breezy and accessible, though Wilson would surely appreciate how all the flora and fauna are labeled with their scientific names.
All in all, Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation is a hearty graphic memoir, which is poised to inspire a new generation of naturalists.
August 15, 2021
I found the graphic novel format of Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation to be an enjoyable way to learn about the life and work of E.O. Wilson.
I received a free review copy of Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation through Goodreads Giveaways.
I received a free review copy of Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation through Goodreads Giveaways.
August 13, 2021
I loved it!! Pure n simple.
August 26, 2020
I don't think that adapting Wilson's autobiography into a graphic novel makes it any more readable; he's never really catered to a wide generalist audience.
Thoughts:
I wasn't aware that Wilson originated the species area curve.
I found it strange that he writes about a formative experience as a Boy Scout working with Black youth forming their own troop but shrugs it off as him not having a social conscious. This is true of many of us as children but especially striking here because Wilson has been accused of racism in his field of sociobiological thought.
How are there so many different ant genera?
The young Wilson isn't really drawn that young.
Does this mean I don't have to read the non- graphic version of this book?
Thoughts:
I wasn't aware that Wilson originated the species area curve.
I found it strange that he writes about a formative experience as a Boy Scout working with Black youth forming their own troop but shrugs it off as him not having a social conscious. This is true of many of us as children but especially striking here because Wilson has been accused of racism in his field of sociobiological thought.
How are there so many different ant genera?
The young Wilson isn't really drawn that young.
Does this mean I don't have to read the non- graphic version of this book?
December 4, 2023
A Fantastic graphic adaptation of Mr.Wilson's autobiography.
E.O.Wilson's writing is easy to follow, despite the scientific jargon. His curiousity for scientific understanding of world around him stayed since his childhood and that is very rare. Majority of all his discoveries are original and are not derivative. He reminded me a bit like Feynman who looks at life around him in a macro sense despite working deeply on minute ant colonies and their behaviors. His work on Sociobiology/Conservation shows that he is more than a heads down scientist.
E.O.Wilson's writing is easy to follow, despite the scientific jargon. His curiousity for scientific understanding of world around him stayed since his childhood and that is very rare. Majority of all his discoveries are original and are not derivative. He reminded me a bit like Feynman who looks at life around him in a macro sense despite working deeply on minute ant colonies and their behaviors. His work on Sociobiology/Conservation shows that he is more than a heads down scientist.
April 20, 2021
I love graphic memoirs but this fell flat for me. The essence is lost in the adaptation.
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