An ecologist and ornithologist whose work has influenced many disciplines, William Vogt was born in 1902 in Mineola, New York. Convalescing from a childhood illness, Vogt became a voracious reader, consuming the works of poets, playwrights, and naturalists. One naturalist in particular, Ernest Thompson Seton, greatly influenced him, cultivating his interest in ornithology. Vogt graduated with honors in 1925 from St. Stephens (now Bard) College in New York, where he had studied romance languages, edited the school literary magazine, and won prizes for his poetry.

After receiving his degree, Vogt worked for two years as assistant editor at the New York Academy of Sciences, and he went on to act as curator of the Jones Beach State Bird Sanctuary from 1933 to 1935. As field naturalist and lecturer at the National Association of Audubon Societies from 1935 to 1939, he edited Bird...