Edward. O. Wilson, the trailblazing U.S. scientist, professor and author whose study of insects and clarion call to protect Earth earned him the nickname “Darwin’s natural heir”, has died at age 92.
Wilson, whose death was announced on Monday by his foundation, was an award-winning biologist and longtime Harvard University research professor, considered the world’s leading authority on ants and their behavior.
While an entomologist early in his career, he broadened his scope immensely, studying not just insects but the social interactions of birds, mammals and humans, and he effectively — and controversially — established a new field of science known as sociobiology.
He was the author of hundreds of scientific papers and more than 30 books, two of which won him Pulitzer Prizes for nonfiction: 1978’s On Human Nature, and The Ants in 1990.
“Ed’s holy grail was the sheer delight of the pursuit of knowledge,” said Paula Ehrlich, president of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and co-founder of the Half-Earth Project.
“A relentless synthesizer of ideas, his courageous scientific focus and poetic voice transformed our way of understanding ourselves and our planet.
“His greatest hope was that students everywhere share his passion for discovery as the ultimate scientific foundation for future stewardship of our planet.”
Wilson, who died on Sunday in Massachusetts, had become renowned for his advances in global conservation, and advised preeminent scientific and conservation organisations.
But his trailblazing work was not without controversy. In much of his 1975 book Sociobiology, he laid out his theory of animal behavior, which earned high praise from fellow scientists. In the final chapter, though, Wilson caused an uproar by proposing that human behavior is largely genetically based, and that humans acquire a predisposition to such matters as the division of labour between genders, tribalism, male dominance and parental-child bonding.
