The Prize was created in 1985 to commemorate the 60-year reign of Emperor Showa and his longtime research interests in biology.

Each year, the Committee that administers the award chooses a scientist from a different field of biology to receive the prize.

"This year, they chose systematic biology," says Bock. "Systematic goes back of the beginnings of biology."

According to the Committee for the International Prize for Biology, "the special quality of Mayr as a researcher lies in the fact that he started as a naturalist and has continued, to his present age of 90, to be an observing and thinking naturalist."

A Busy Man

Embarking on the 10th decade of life, Mayr has no intention of stopping his work. Just last week, Mayr says, he gave three lectures in Japan. And he remains prolific, with over 15 books to his credit.

"Every time I write a book, I come up with ideas for two or three more that should be written," Mayr says. "Right now, I am writing a book on evolution so the common man can understand it."

Mayr cites two reasons for his longevity.

"First, it's luck," Mayr says. "I have lost both of my parents and my wife to cancer. I am lucky that my body's immune system fights off the malignant cells as they come along."

"Secondly, if I keep being active, it constantly rejuvenates me," Mayr says. "It is good for your brain to keep active and it is likewise good for your body."

But revealing his real key to success, Mayr recounted the work of Ann Lowell, a woman who investigated the common traits of great scientists.

"She found that scientists have a variety of IQs, eat different things, sleep at different times, and are truly different," Mayr says. "But she found one thing that all scientists have in common: they work like hell."

Rain Forests and Population

Mayr says more biologists should be in the tropics collecting information about the species there.

"There is an extermination of species going on [in the rain forest], and they are being irretrievably destroyed."