Everything about E O Wilson totally explained
Edward Osborne Wilson (born
June 10,
1929) is an
American biologist (
Myrmecology, a branch of
entomology), researcher (
sociobiology,
biodiversity), theorist (
consilience,
biophilia), and naturalist (
conservationism).
Wilson is known for his career as a scientist, his advocacy for
environmentalism, and his
secular humanist ideas concerned with religious and ethical matters.
As of 2007 he's Pellegrino University Research Professor in Entomology for the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at
Harvard University and a Fellow of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is a Humanist Laureate of the
International Academy of Humanism.
Biography
Wilson was born in
Birmingham, Alabama. According to his autobiography
Naturalist, he grew up mostly around
Washington, D.C. and in the countryside around
Mobile, Alabama. From an early age, he was interested in natural history. His parents, Edward and Inez Wilson, divorced when he was seven, and in that same year, he damaged his eye in a fishing accident. The young naturalist grew up in several cities and towns, moving around with his father and his stepmother. His reduced ability to observe mammals and birds led him to concentrate on
insects. At nine, Wilson undertook his first expeditions at the
Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC. At the age of 16, intent on becoming an
entomologist, he began by collecting
flies, but the shortage of insect pins caused by World War II caused him to switch to
ants, which could be stored in vials. With the encouragement of Marion R. Smith, a myrmecologist from the
National Museum of Natural History in Washington, Wilson began a survey of all the ants of
Alabama.
Concerned that he might not be able to afford to go to a university, Wilson attempted to enlist in the United States Army. His plan was to earn U.S. government financial support for his education, but he failed his Army medical examination due to his impaired eyesight. Wilson was able to afford to enroll in the
University of Alabama after all. There, he earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees, and then he earned his Ph.D. degree from the
Harvard University.
Theories and beliefs
Sociobiology
Wilson defines
sociobiology as "the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior." By applying the evolutionary principles which went a long way to explaining the behavior of the social insects to understanding the social behavior of animals, including humans, Wilson established sociobiology as a new scientific field. He argued that all animal behavior, including humans, is the product of heredity and environmental stimuli/past experiences and
free will is an illusion. He has referred to the biological basis of behaviour as the "genetic leash." The sociobiological view is that all animal social behavior is governed by
epigenetic rules worked out by the laws of
evolution. This theory and research proved to be seminal, controversial, and influential.
The controversy of sociobiological research is in how it applies to humans. The theory established a scientific argument for rejecting the common doctrine of
tabula rasa, which holds that human beings are born without any innate mental content and that culture functions to increase human knowledge and aid in survival and success. In the final chapter of the book
Sociobiology and in the full text of his
Pulitzer Prize-winning
On Human Nature, Wilson argues that the human mind is shaped as much by genetic inheritance as it's by culture (if not more). There are limits on just how much influence social and environmental factors can have in altering human behavior.
Ants and Social Insects
Wilson along with
Bert Hölldobler has done a systematic study of ants and ant behavior, culminating in their encyclopedic work
The Ants (1990). Because much self-sacrificing behavior on the part of individual ants can be explained on the basis of their genetic interests in the survival of the sisters, with whom (it was thought at the time) they share 75% of their genes, Wilson was led to argue for a sociobiological explanation for all social behavior on the model of the behavior of the social insects. (It turns out that because queens mate more than once, the 75% number is too high, though suggestive for selfish-gene explanations.) In his more recent work he's sought to defend his views against the criticism of younger scientists such as
Deborah Gordon, whose results challenge the idea that ant behavior is as rigidly predictable as Wilson's explanations make it.
Consilience
In his 1998 book, Wilson discusses methods that have been used to unite the sciences, and might be able to unite the sciences with the humanities. Wilson prefers and uses the term
consilience to describe the synthesis of knowledge from different specialized fields of human endeavor. He defines
human nature as a collection of
epigenetic rules; the genetic patterns of mental development. He argues that culture and rituals are products, not parts, of human nature. He says
art isn't part of human nature, but our appreciation of art is. He argues that concepts such as art appreciation, fear of snakes, or the
incest taboo (
Westermarck effect) can be studied using scientific methods. Previously, these phenomena were only part of
psychological,
sociological or
anthropological studies. Wilson proposes that they can be part of interdisciplinary research.
The Unit and Target of Selection
Wilson has argued that the "
unit of selection is a gene, the basic element of heredity. The
target of selection is normally the individual who carries an ensemble of genes of certain kinds." With regards to the use
kin selection in explaining the behavior of
eusocial insects, Wilson said to
Discover magazine, the "new view that I'm proposing is that it was
group selection all along, an idea first roughly formulated by Darwin."
Spiritual and political beliefs
Scientific humanism
Wilson coined the phrase
scientific humanism as "the only
worldview compatible with science's growing knowledge of the real world and the laws of nature". Wilson argues that it's best suited to improve the human condition.
God and religion
On the question of
God, Wilson has described his position as
provisional deism. He has explained his faith as a trajectory away from traditional beliefs: "I drifted away from the church, not definitively
agnostic or
atheistic, just Baptist & Christian no more." He argues that they shouldn't be rejected or dismissed, but further investigated by science to better understand their significance to human nature. In his book
The Creation, Wilson suggests that scientists "offer the hand of friendship" to religious leaders and build an alliance with them, stating that "Science and religion are two of the most potent forces on Earth and they should come together to save the creation."
Ecology
Wilson has studied the
mass extinctions of the 20th century and their relationship to modern society, arguing strongly for an ecological approach:
» Now when you cut a forest, an
ancient forest in particular, you're not just removing a lot of big
trees and a few
birds fluttering around in the
canopy. You are drastically imperiling a vast array of
species within a few square miles of you. The number of these species may go to tens of thousands. ... Many of them are still unknown to science, and science hasn't yet discovered the key role undoubtedly played in the maintenance of that
ecosystem, as in the case of
fungi,
microorganisms, and many of the
insects. (E. O. Wilson, 2000)
His understanding of the scale of the extinction crisis has led him to advocate a number of strategies for forest protection, including the
Forests Now Declaration, which calls for new markets-based mechanisms to protect tropical forests.
Criticism of human sociobiology
Wilson experienced significant criticism for his sociobiological views. Several of Wilson's colleagues at Harvard, such as
Richard Lewontin and
Stephen Jay Gould, were vehemently opposed to his ideas regarding sociobiology.
Marshall Sahlins's work
The Use and Abuse of Biology was a direct criticism of Wilson's theories.
Wilson's sociobiological ideas have offended some
liberals and
conservatives, who both favored the idea that human behavior was culturally based. Sociobiology re-ignited the
nature versus nurture debate, and Wilson's scientific perspective on human nature led to public debate. He was accused of
racism,
misogyny, and
eugenics. In one incident, members of the International Committee Against Racism (a group connected to a
left-wing organization
Science for the People) poured a pitcher of water on Wilson's head and chanted "Wilson, you're all wet" at a conference in November 1977.
Awards and honors
Wilson's scientific and
conservation honors include:
- Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America
- Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
- Member, National Academy of Sciences, 1969
- U.S. National Medal of Science, 1976
- Pulitzer Prize for On Human Nature, 1979
- Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, 1984
- ECI Prize, International Ecology Institute, terrestrial ecology, 1987
- Crafoord Prize, 1990, a prize awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in certain sciences not covered by the Nobel Prize, and therefore considered the highest award given in the field of ecology
- Pulitzer Prize for The Ants (with Bert Hölldobler), 1991
- Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science 1994
- Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential People in America, 1995
- Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science, 2000
- Nierenberg Prize, 2001
- Dauphin Island Sea Lab christened its newest research vessel the R/V E.O. Wilson in 2005.
- 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
- Member of the World Knowledge DialogueHonorary Board, and Scientist in Residence for the 2008 symposium organized in Crans-Montana (Switzerland).
Main works
The Theory of Island Biogeography, 1967, Princeton University Press (2001 reprint), ISBN 0-691-08836-5, with Robert H. MacArthur
The Insect Societies, 1971, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-45490-1
1975, Harvard University Press, (Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition, 2000 ISBN 0-674-00089-7)
, 1981, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-34475-8
, 1983, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-71445-8
(External Link), 1984, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-07441-6
, 1990, Inter-Research, ISSN 0932-2205
The Ants, 1990, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-04075-9, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, with Bert Hölldobler
The Diversity of Life, 1992, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-21298-3, The Diversity of Life: Special Edition, ISBN 0-674-21299-1
The Biophilia Hypothesis, 1993, Shearwater Books, ISBN 1-55963-148-1, with Stephen R. Kellert
Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration, 1994, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-48525-4, with Bert Hölldobler
Naturalist, 1994, Shearwater Books, ISBN 1-55963-288-7
In Search of Nature, 1996, Shearwater Books, ISBN 1-55963-215-1, with Laura Simonds Southworth
, 1998, Knopf, ISBN 0-679-45077-7
The Future of Life, 2002, Knopf, ISBN 0-679-45078-5
Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Ant Genus, 2003, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-00293-8
On Human Nature, 2004, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-01638-6
From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books. 2005, W. W. Norton.
The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth, September 2006, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0393062175
Nature Revealed: Selected Writings 1949-2006, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. ISBN 0-8018-8329-6
Footnotes
Further Information
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