Isadore Nabi was a pseudonym used by a group of scientists including Richard Lewontin, Richard Levins, Robert MacArthur, and Leigh van Valen in the 1960s. Inspired by the work of Nicolas Bourbaki, they allegedly hoped to create a unified approach to evolutionary biology. However, the project was aborted and the name was reused in the 1980s for satirical purposes. Nabi's biography was listed in American Men and Women of Science, articles and letters were published in prominent journals under his name, and he was listed on the editorial board of Evolutionary Theory. He has primarily written on sociobiology. His article, "An Evolutionary Interpretation of the English Sonnet" was delivered as the First Annual Piltdown Lecture on Man and Nature and appeared under the heading "Advances in Sociobiopsy". He has also written articles critical of the systems-theoretical approach to mathematical ecology, as illustrated by what our laws of motion in physics would look like if early physicists had used the methods of the systems ecologists. In 2002 he published a piece on stock tips in Gene Watch. It was identified as humor.
In 1981, Nabi had a letter published in Nature complaining that Richard Dawkins suggested both that we were "robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes... they control us body and mind" and that we need to fight against the tendencies of our genes. Similarly, E. O. Wilson has said that neurobiology provided "a genetically accurate and hence completely fair code of ethics" but also warned against the naturalistic fallacy. Wilson complained to Naturemagazine that Nabi was an invented character and insisted that he "lifted the two 1975 phrases of mine out of context in a way that reverses the meaning of one". The editors suggested that Nabi was a pseudonym of Lewontin's. Lewontin wrote to insist he was not "Isidore Nabi", citing Nabi's biography in American Men and Women of Science and editorial board position on Evolutionary Theory. Isidore Nabi replied to insist that he was not Isadore Nabi, the author of the letter. This all led to a Nature editorial in the fall of 1981 which stated that Nabi was the pen name of Richard Lewontin, Leigh van Valen, and Richard Lester and decrying its use as deceptive. Richard Lester wrote an outraged reply insisting that he had not been involved at all and suggesting Nature was irresponsible in not checking with him first. The editors suggested that Richard Lester was a pseudonym of Richard Levins.
