Michel Anctil was born in Warwick, Quebec, Canada and has studied at Université de Montréal (B.Sc.), Stanford University and University of California at Santa Barbara (Ph.D.). He was professor at the Department of Biological Sciences of the Université de Montréal, Canada, and is now retired. His research focused on the physiology and neurobiology of marine animals from an evolutionary perspective. He now writes books on historical subjects related to biology (Dawn of the Neuron, 2015; Luminous Creatures, 2018; Animal as Machine, 2022) or to more eclectic topics such as this one on the story of a schooner.