CHARLES HENRY TURNER

1867-1923

Biologist Charles Henry Turner was the first to discover that insects can hear; honeybees can recognise patterns and colours; and cockroaches learn by trial and error. He published more than 70 research papers over the course of his scientific career, devising sophisticated methodologies and experimental apparatuses to study insect behaviour. Even more impressive: he did it all without laboratory space or research assistants, and with limited library access. This son of freed slaves achieved many more firsts. In 1892, he was the first African-american to earn a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati. In 1907, the University of Chicago awarded him a zoology PHD – its first to a black candidate. Yet, Charles struggled to find work in higher education. Instead, he taught high-school science in St Louis until 1922. Charles also campaigned for civil rights, drawing on his entomological research to suggest racism could be both instinctive and learned. One of his greatest achievements, though, was to show that insect behaviour is driven by the creatures’ perceptions and learning abilities, not external stimuli. He proved that bugs can distinguish between different pitches, and are susceptible to Pavlovian conditioning. Although his ideas are now mainstream in zoology, Turner himself has been shamefully forgotten since his death from heart disease. However, his memory lives on in the curvy walking pattern used by ants to find their way back to their nest – the habit is known as ‘Turner’s circling’.