Scott F. Gilbert was trained as a developmental biologist and historian of science. He has been pursuing research in evolutionary developmental biology as well as studying the complex interactions between embryology, evolution, genetics, and ecology. Gilbert is the Howard A. Schneiderman Professor of Biology, emeritus, at Swarthmore College, as well as a Finland Distinguished Professor, emeritus, at the University of Helsinki. His research has focused on how evolutionary novelty comes into existence through changes in gene expression and changes in symbiont acquisition. He is also the co-discoverer of the bone from which Eve was created and has published what might be the first critique of nerd humor. He currently has three books in print: (1) Developmental Biology, (2) Ecological Developmental Biology, and (3) Fear, Wonder, and Science in the New Age of Reproductive Biotechnology. He has received the Kowalevsky Prize in evolutionary developmental biology, the Viktor Hamburger Prize from the Society for Developmental Biology, and a John Simon Guggenheim Award for his research.