Editing Auguste Forel (section)

==Myrmecology==
[[File:Le Monde Social Des Fourmis.jpg|thumb|The Social World of Ants]]

===Publications===
====''Les fourmis de la Suisse'' (1874)====
Following a field trip to southern Switzerland in his early twenties, Forel wrote a 450-page essay, ''Les Fourmis de la Suisse'', which was first published in a three part series in a Swiss scientific journal, beginning in 1874.{{sfn|Forel|1874}} It earned him the Schafli prize awarded by the Swiss Natural History Society. Forel sent Charles Darwin a copy of the essay when it was published as a book in 1874, and Darwin commended his work. The Paris Academy of Science also honored him with the Thore prize for the essay. His 1874 450-page treatise, was selected by scholars for its cultural importance{{emdash}}it is part of the knowledge base of civilization.{{sfn|Forel|1874}}{{sfn|Forel|1921}} ''Les Fourmis de la Suisse'' was commended by [[Charles Darwin]]. It was translated into English when it was reissued in 1890.

Sir [[John Alexander Hammerton|J.A. Hammerton]] wrote a chapter entitled "The Senses of Insects: Auguste Forel", in his 1937 book, ''Outline of Great Books'' in which he praised Forel's 1874 "prize essay on the Ants of Switzerland". Hammerton said that it was "the most important contribution to insect psychology ever made by a single student...He made the senses and mental faculties of insects his chief study. His work on insects has served the study of human psychology, and is in itself perhaps the most important contribution to insect psychology ever made by a single student."{{sfn|Hammerton|1937|page=470}}

====''The Senses of Insects'' 1885 (1908)====

In an experiment to better understand ant communication, in 1886, Forel removed the antennas of a large number of ants of different species, then placed them in a box in order to observe their behaviour.{{sfn|Wei-Haas|2016}}{{sfn|Forel|1908}} He found that the ants without antennae were no longer aggressive towards other ants, in marked contrast to ants with antennae. This confirmed his thesis that ants use their antennas to distinguish friend from foe. He published his findings in English in 1908 in ''The Senses of Insects''.{{sfn|Forel|1908}} In a 2016 study described in the ''Smithsonian Magazine'', the author cited Forel.{{sfn|Wei-Haas|2016}} The experiment was one of a series undertaken in the 1880s and published in German at that time. The 1908 English translation included several previously published studies on the subject.{{sfn|Forel|1908}}

====''Le Monde Social des Fourmis'' (1921)====
In 1919, Forel hired the well-known animal painter Erich W. Heinrich to work with him on his five volume myrmecological magnum opus treatise, ''Le Monde social des fourmis du Globe comparé à celui de L'homme.'' The five volumes were published in French in 1921.{{sfn|Forel|1921}} It was published in English in 1928.{{sfn|Forel|1928}}{{sfn|Parent|2003|page=28}}{{sfn|Forel|1921}}

In his 1924 ''Nature'' review of Forel's ''Le Monde social des fourmis, compareé à celui de l'homme in Nature'', Malinowski said taking the analogy between society and organism literally by comparing human society to that of animals, "has misled and wrecked most of the earlier attempts at systematic sociology."{{sfn|Malinowski|1924}} He said that comparisons between "relations between human individuals in society" and that of other living organism" has limited value{{emdash}}[a]s a method of sociological research and exposition this simile is worse than useless."{{sfn|Malinowski|1924}}

In 1914, Forel was a good friend of the well-known [[United Kingdom|British]] [[entomologist]] [[Horace Donisthorpe]], with whom he stayed in Switzerland;<ref>''The Entomologist's Record'', vol XXV, Nos 1-2 (1915)</ref> his ardent [[socialist]] views frequently caused political arguments between the two. In [[Horace Donisthorpe]]'s 1927 edition of ''British Ants: their life history and classification''. Donisthorpe said, "I should wish ... to protest against the ants being employed as a supposed weapon in political controversy. In my opinion an entomological work is not the appropriate means for the introduction of political theories of any kind, still less for their glaring advertisement."{{sfn|Donisthorpe|1927}}

===Other myrmecological research===
In 1898, Forel was credited with discovering [[trophallaxis]] among ants.{{sfn|Kropotkin|2017}}