Of ants and men. Myrmecological inspirations of anthropology in the work of V. J. A. Novák (1919-1997)

The work presents life and work of Vladimir Jan Amos Novak, it shows his main thoughts unified by the principle of sociogenesis and points at its inspiration in older traditions of german and russian biology. It also concerns his anthropology as related to the principle of sociogenesis and shows some peculiar Novak's contributions, mainly his opinions on progessive neotenization of man and evolutionary tedency for association. It grasps the principle of sociogenesis as a biological and also a political concept and therefore shows its very political consequences presented mainly on his social thoughts. The work also deals with the relations between eastern and western science on Novák's efforts to unify all sciences under one universal evolutionary framework regardless its geographical belonging. Throughout the work is Novak shown in the context of man-animal relations and the principle of sociogenesis as arising from myrmecological studies. There are therefore presented anthropological works of three important myrmecologists A. Forel, W.M. Wheeler and E.O. Wilson as inspired in the study of ants