Dana Brackenridge Casteel

Born in 1877, Dana Brackenridge Casteel was an American zoologist and scientific writer whose published work included studies in embryology and entomology. He is most widely remembered by general readers for The Behavior of the Honey Bee in Pollen Collecting, a U.S. Department of Agriculture bulletin later circulated through Project Gutenberg and other public-domain libraries.

Archival records also show that he spent much of his career at The University of Texas at Austin, where he served as a professor of zoology for many years and chaired the department during parts of that time. Other historical records connect him with early work at the University of Pennsylvania and with the Marine Biological Laboratory, reflecting a career rooted in research and teaching.

Casteel died in 1958. While not a household name today, his writing still appeals to listeners interested in natural history, bees, and the close-up observational science of the early twentieth century.