Edward Osborne Wilson ForMemRS (June 10, 1929 – December 26, 2021) was an American biologist, naturalist, ecologist, and entomologist who created the field of sociobiology.

He was born in Alabama and showed an early interest in nature. At age seven, he was partially blinded in a fishing accident. Because of his reduced vision, he decided to study entomology. After graduating from the University of Alabama, he earned a doctorate from Harvard University, where he was recognized for his work in several areas. In 1956, he worked with another scientist to write a paper that explained the theory of character displacement. In 1967, he developed the theory of island biogeography with Robert MacArthur.

Wilson held the title of Pellegrino University Research Professor Emeritus in Entomology at Harvard University’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. He also taught at Duke University and was a member of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. The Royal Swedish Academy gave him the Crafoord Prize. He was a humanist laureate of the International Academy of Humanism. He won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction twice: for On Human Nature in 1979 and The Ants in 1991. He wrote best-selling books, including The Social Conquest of Earth, Letters to a Young Scientist, and The Meaning of Human Existence.

During his lifetime, Wilson’s work was both praised and criticized. His 1975 book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis caused significant debate and was criticized by the Sociobiology Study Group. His views on evolution led to a public disagreement with Richard Dawkins about multilevel selection theory. After his death, letters were found showing he supported J. Philippe Rushton, a psychologist whose research on race and intelligence was widely considered incorrect and racist by the scientific community.

Early life, family and education

Edward Osborne Wilson was born on June 10, 1929, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was the only child of Inez Linnette Freeman and Edward Osborne Wilson Sr. As he wrote in his autobiography, Naturalist, he lived in several towns in the Southern United States, including Mobile, Decatur, and Pensacola. From a young age, he was interested in natural history. His father struggled with alcoholism and later died by suicide. His parents allowed him to bring black widow spiders home and keep them on the porch. His parents separated when he was seven years old.

In the same year his parents divorced, Wilson lost sight in his right eye during a fishing accident. He continued fishing despite the pain and did not seek medical help because he wanted to stay outdoors. Months later, a cataract developed in his right eye, and he was hospitalized in Pensacola to have the lens removed. Wilson described the surgery in his autobiography as a "terrifying [19th] century ordeal." He retained full vision in his left eye, which had 20/10 eyesight. This sharp vision helped him notice small details, such as butterflies and ants, more than other children did. Although he could not see in three dimensions, he could still read fine print and see small insect body hairs. His reduced ability to observe mammals and birds led him to focus on insects.

At age nine, Wilson began exploring Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., where he collected insects and developed a passion for butterflies. He used nets made from brooms, coat hangers, and cheesecloth bags to catch them. These early expeditions sparked his interest in ants. In his autobiography, he described finding citronella ants under the bark of a rotting tree. The worker ants were "short, fat, brilliant yellow, and smelled strongly of lemon." This experience left a lasting impression on him. He also earned the Eagle Scout award and served as Nature Director at his Boy Scouts summer camp. At 18, he aimed to become an entomologist. He first collected flies but switched to ants during World War II due to a shortage of insect pins. With help from Marion R. Smith, a myrmecologist at the National Museum of Natural History, Wilson studied Alabama’s ants and discovered the first fire ant colony in the United States near Mobile.

Wilson attended 15 or 16 schools during 11 years of schooling. He worried he could not afford university and tried to join the U.S. Army to get financial support. He failed the Army medical exam because of his poor eyesight but enrolled at the University of Alabama. He earned a Bachelor of Science in 1949 and a Master of Science in biology in 1950. The next year, he moved to Harvard University.

As a member of the Harvard Society of Fellows, Wilson traveled abroad to collect ant species in Cuba, Mexico, and the South Pacific, including Australia, New Guinea, Fiji, and New Caledonia, as well as Sri Lanka. In 1955, he received his Ph.D. and married Irene Kelley.

In Letters to a Young Scientist, Wilson mentioned his IQ was measured as 123.

Career

From 1956 to 1996, Wilson was a teacher at Harvard University. He started by studying ants and how they change over time, especially how they form new species by avoiding problems in their environment and moving to new places. He created a theory called the "taxon cycle."

Wilson worked with mathematician William H. Bossert to classify pheromones, which are chemicals insects use to communicate. In the 1960s, he joined forces with mathematician and ecologist Robert MacArthur to develop the theory of species equilibrium. In the 1970s, he and biologist Daniel S. Simberloff tested this theory on small mangrove islands in the Florida Keys. They removed all insect species and watched as new species returned. Their book, The Theory of Island Biogeography, became a key text in ecology.

In 1971, Wilson wrote The Insect Societies, explaining how insect behavior and the behavior of other animals are shaped by similar evolutionary forces. In 1973, he became the curator of entomology at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. In 1975, he published Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, applying his insect behavior theories to vertebrates and, in the final chapter, to humans. He suggested that human social structures might be influenced by inherited traits. In 1978, he wrote On Human Nature, discussing how biology affects human culture. The book won a Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

Wilson was named the Frank B. Baird Jr., Professor of Science in 1976. After retiring from Harvard in 1996, he became the Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus. In 1981, he co-authored Genes, Mind and Culture with biologist Charles Lumsden, presenting a theory about how genes and culture evolve together. In 1990, he co-wrote The Ants with zoologist Bert Hölldobler, earning his second Pulitzer Prize.

In the 1990s, Wilson published The Diversity of Life (1992), an autobiography titled Naturalist (1994), and Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998), which discussed connecting natural and social sciences. He was recognized for his environmental work and his ideas about religion and ethics.

Wilson was known by titles such as "father of biodiversity," "ant man," and "Darwin's heir." David Attenborough, a scientist and TV presenter, once said Wilson was a world expert on ants who also had a deep understanding of the natural world.

In 2012, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins criticized Wilson’s book The Social Conquest of Earth, arguing Wilson’s ideas about evolution were incorrect. Wilson responded, saying the disagreement was with scientists, not Dawkins, who he described as a journalist. Dawkins later admitted he respected Wilson’s work but disagreed with his views on evolution. In 2021, Dawkins said their debate was purely scientific and stood by his critique.

Before Wilson’s death, his personal letters were donated to the Library of Congress. After his death, some articles discussed the conflict between Wilson’s legacy in conservation biology and his support for J. Philippe Rushton, a psychologist who promoted racist ideas. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, Wilson wrote emails defending Rushton’s work despite widespread criticism. Wilson also helped publish a paper by Rushton in PNAS and chose reviewers who might agree with its claims. He avoided public support for Rushton to protect his reputation. In 2022, the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation stated it rejected Wilson’s support for Rushton and racism.

Work

Edward O. Wilson used ideas from sociobiology and evolution to explain how social insects behave and how this helps understand the social behavior of other animals, including humans. This work created a new scientific field called sociobiology. He believed that all animal behavior, including human behavior, is shaped by genes, the environment, and past experiences. He said that free will is not real, and he called the biological influence on behavior the "genetic leash." Sociobiology suggests that all social behavior in animals is controlled by rules shaped by evolution. This theory and its research were important, caused debate, and had a major impact on science.

Wilson argued that the basic unit of evolution is a gene, which carries hereditary traits. The individual who carries a group of genes is usually the target of evolution. When explaining the behavior of eusocial insects, like ants, Wilson proposed that group selection, an idea first suggested by Darwin, was the main cause of their behavior.

At the time, sociobiology was controversial when applied to humans. The theory challenged the idea of "tabula rasa," which claims humans are born without any innate mental traits and that culture alone helps humans learn and succeed.

Wilson's book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis was at first praised by many scientists. However, after criticism from the Sociobiology Study Group, part of the organization Science for the People, a major debate called the "sociobiology debate" began. Wilson was accused of supporting racism, sexism, and eugenics. Some of his Harvard colleagues, like Richard Lewontin and Stephen Jay Gould, strongly disagreed with his work. They wrote an open letter criticizing Wilson's view that human behavior is determined by biology. Other groups also criticized his work. In response, Wilson wrote an article in BioScience titled "Academic Vigilantism and the Political Significance of Sociobiology."

In February 1978, during a discussion on sociobiology at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Wilson was attacked by members of the International Committee Against Racism. They accused him of promoting racism and genetic determinism. Steven Jay Gould, who was present, and Science for the People, which had previously protested Wilson, condemned the attack.

Philosopher Mary Midgley studied Wilson's book Sociobiology while writing Beast and Man (1979). She rewrote her book to criticize Wilson's ideas. She praised his work for its study of animal behavior and thorough research but pointed out problems with his thinking, such as confusing concepts, overconfidence in science, and attributing human-like traits to genetics.

In his 1978 book On Human Nature, Wilson wrote, "The evolutionary epic is probably the best myth we will ever have." This phrase later became known as the "epic of evolution." The book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979.

Wilson and Bert Hölldobler studied ants and their behavior in detail, leading to the 1990 book The Ants. Wilson explained that ants often sacrifice themselves for the colony because they share many genes with their sisters. He used this to argue that all social behavior can be understood through the same principles that explain insect behavior.

Wilson once said, "Karl Marx was right, socialism works, but he had the wrong species." He explained that ants and other eusocial animals achieve greater success by working for the colony instead of themselves because they cannot reproduce without a queen. Humans, however, can reproduce independently, so they maximize their survival by focusing on their own needs and raising their own children.

In his 1998 book Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Wilson discussed ways to connect different fields of science and the humanities. He believed knowledge is one unified system, not divided between science and human studies. He used the term "consilience" to describe combining knowledge from different areas. He described human nature as patterns of mental development shaped by genes. He said culture and traditions are results of human nature, not separate parts. He argued that art itself is not part of human nature, but the ability to appreciate art is. He suggested that scientific methods can study traits like fear of snakes, the incest taboo, or art appreciation as part of interdisciplinary research.

Spiritual and political beliefs

Edward O. Wilson created the term "scientific humanism" to describe a belief system that aligns with scientific discoveries about the natural world and its laws. He believed this approach could help improve life for people. In 2003, he signed the Humanist Manifesto, a statement supporting human-centered values.

Wilson described his views on religion as "provisional deism," meaning he believed in a higher power but not in specific religious doctrines. He did not identify as an atheist and preferred the term "agnostic," which means he remained unsure about the existence of God. He explained that his beliefs evolved over time, moving away from traditional religious practices. Wilson argued that religious beliefs and rituals developed through evolution and should be studied by science to understand their role in human behavior. In his book The Creation, he encouraged scientists and religious leaders to work together, saying science and religion are powerful forces that should collaborate to protect the environment.

Wilson spoke to religious groups, such as at Midland College in Texas, where he received a strong response. A group wrote a shared agreement, and he believed that a partnership between science and religion could help address global challenges.

In a 2015 interview, Wilson stated that religious faith sometimes hinders progress. He also mentioned that if he could restart his life, he would focus on studying microbial ecology, a field he explored earlier in his career. He studied mass extinctions and warned that they are the biggest threat to Earth's future. In 1998, he promoted an ecological approach to conservation in government discussions.

From the 1970s onward, Wilson worked globally to protect biodiversity. In 1984, he wrote Biophilia, a book explaining why humans are naturally drawn to nature. This work introduced the term "biophilia," which describes the human connection to the natural world. In 1988, he edited BioDiversity, a book that helped define the field of biodiversity studies. In 2011, he led scientific expeditions to protect wildlife in Mozambique and the Pacific Islands. He also worked with organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and the American Museum of Natural History.

Wilson emphasized the need to protect forests, calling for a law to save American forests, though it was never passed. He compared destroying rainforests for economic gain to burning a Renaissance painting to cook food. In 2014, he proposed setting aside half of Earth's surface to protect species, an idea that became the basis of his book Half-Earth (2016) and the Half-Earth Project.

Wilson helped launch the Encyclopedia of Life, a global database containing information about nearly 2 million known species. This online resource includes data on species traits, interactions, and other details, with support from scientists worldwide. Wilson also discovered and named over 400 species of ants.

Retirement and death

In 1996, Wilson officially retired from Harvard University, where he continued to serve as a Professor Emeritus and Honorary Curator in Entomology. He fully retired from Harvard in 2002 at the age of 73. After retiring, he wrote more than a dozen books, including a digital biology textbook for the iPad.

He created the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, which supports the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. This foundation is an "independent foundation" located at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. As part of an agreement, Wilson became a special lecturer at Duke University.

Wilson and his wife, Irene, lived in Lexington, Massachusetts. He had one daughter named Catherine. His wife passed away on August 7, 2021. Wilson died in nearby Burlington, Massachusetts, on December 26, 2021, at the age of 92.

Awards and honors

Wilson's scientific and conservation honors include:

• Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, chosen in 1959
• Member of the National Academy of Sciences, chosen in 1969
• Member of the American Philosophical Society, chosen in 1976
• U.S. National Medal of Science, 1977
• Leidy Award, 1979, from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
• Pulitzer Prize for On Human Nature, 1979
• Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, 1984
• ECI Prize, International Ecology Institute, terrestrial ecology, 1987
• Honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science at Uppsala University, Sweden, 1987
• Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award, 1988
• His books The Insect Societies and Sociobiology: The New Synthesis received the Science Citation Classic award by the Institute for Scientific Information
• Crafoord Prize, 1990, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
• Pulitzer Prize for The Ants (with Bert Hölldobler), 1991
• International Prize for Biology, 1993
• Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science, 1994
• The National Audubon Society's Audubon Medal, 1995
• Time magazine's 25 Most Influential People in America, 1995
• Certificate of Distinction, International Congresses of Entomology, Florence, Italy, 1996
• Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences of the American Philosophical Society, 1998
• American Humanist Association's 1999 Humanist of the Year
• Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science, 2000
• Nierenberg Prize, 2001
• Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, 2004
• Dauphin Island Sea Lab named one of its research vessels the R/V E.O. Wilson
• Linnean Tercentenary Silver Medal, 2006
• Addison Emery Verrill Medal from the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2007
• TED Prize, 2007, given yearly to "honor a maximum of three individuals who have shown that they can, in some way, positively impact life on this planet"
• XIX Premi Internacional Catalunya, 2007
• E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center on Nokuse Plantation in Walton County, Florida, 2009 video
• The Explorers Club Medal, 2009
• BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award, 2010, Ecology and Conservation Biology Category
• Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture, 2010
• 2010 Heartland Prize for fiction for his first novel Anthill: A Novel
• EarthSky Science Communicator of the Year, 2010
• International Cosmos Prize, 2012
• Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, 2012
• Kew International Medal, 2014
• Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from the American Museum of Natural History, 2014
• 2016 Harper Lee Award
• Commemoration in the species' epithet of Myrmoderus eowilsoni, 2018
• Commemoration in the species' epithet of Miniopterus wilsoni, 2020
• Busk Medal by the Royal Geographical Society, 2002.

Main works

• Brown, W. L.; Wilson, E. O. (1956). "Character displacement." Systematic Zoology. 5 (2): 49–64. doi: 10.2307/2411924. JSTOR 2411924. Written with William Brown Jr.; the paper was recognized in 1986 as one of the most frequently cited scientific papers of all time.
• The Theory of Island Biogeography (1967), published by Princeton University Press (reprinted in 2001), ISBN 978-0-691-08836-5, with Robert H. MacArthur.
• The Insect Societies (1971), published by Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-45490-3.
• Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975), published by Harvard University Press (Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition, 2000, ISBN 978-0-674-00089-6).
• On Human Nature (1979), published by Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-01638-5. Winner of the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
• Genes, Mind and Culture: The Coevolutionary Process (1981), published by Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-34475-4.
• Promethean Fire: Reflections on the Origin of Mind (1983), published by Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-71445-8.
• Biophilia (1984), published by Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-07441-5.
• Success and Dominance in Ecosystems: The Case of the Social Insects (1990), published by Inter-Research, ISSN 0932-2205.
• The Ants (1990), published by Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-04075-5. Winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize, with Bert Hölldobler.
• The Diversity of Life (1992), published by Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-21298-5. The Diversity of Life: Special Edition, ISBN 978-0-674-21299-2.
• The Biophilia Hypothesis (1993), published by Shearwater Books, ISBN 978-1-55963-148-8, with Stephen R. Kellert.
• Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration (1994), published by Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-48525-9, with Bert Hölldobler.
• Naturalist (1994), published by Shearwater Books, ISBN 978-1-55963-288-1.
• In Search of Nature (1996), published by Shearwater Books, ISBN 978-1-55963-215-7, with Laura Simonds Southworth.
• Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998), published by Knopf, ISBN 978-0-679-45077-1.
• The Future of Life (2002), published by Knopf, ISBN 978-0-679-45078-8.
• Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Ant Genus (2003), published by Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-00293-7.
• The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth (September 2006), published by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., ISBN 978-0-393-06217-5.
• Nature Revealed: Selected Writings 1949–2006, ISBN 978-0-8018-8329-3.
• The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies (2009), published by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., ISBN 978-0-393-06704-0, with Bert Hölldobler.
• Anthill: A Novel (April 2010), published by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., ISBN 978-0-393-07119-1.
• Kingdom of Ants: Jose Celestino Mutis and the Dawn of Natural History in the New World (2010), published by Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, with José María Gómez Durán, ISBN 978-0-8018-9785-6.
• The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct (2011), published by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., ISBN 978-0-393-33868-3, with Bert Hölldobler.
• The Social Conquest of Earth (2012), published by Liveright Publishing Corporation, New York, ISBN 978-0-87140-363-6.
• Letters to a Young Scientist (2014), published by Liveright, ISBN 978-0-87140-385-8.
• A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park (2014), published by Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-1-4767-4741-5.
• The Meaning of Human Existence (2014), published by Liveright, ISBN 978-0-87140-100-7.
• Half-Earth (2016), published by Liveright, ISBN 978-1-63149-082-8.
• The Origins of Creativity (2017), published by Liveright, ISBN 978-1-63149-318