Professor Sir Richard Southwood FRS, ex-head of Imperial College and Oxford Zoology Departments, ex-Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, holder of thirteen honorary degrees is, above all, a life long natural historian with an enduring curiosity about the lives of the other inhabitants of Earth. As well as writing and researching, he has played a major role in public policy related to the environment - with direct responsibility for the elimination of lead additives from petrol, inter alia.