View source for E. O. Wilson

{{Short description|American biologist, naturalist, and writer (1929–2021)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_suffix  = [[Fellow of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]]
| image             = E. O. Wilson sitting, October 16, 2007 (cropped).jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Wilson in 2007
| birth_name        = Edward Osborne Wilson
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1929|6|10|mf=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Birmingham, Alabama]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2021|12|26|1929|6|10|mf=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Burlington, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| residence         = 
| citizenship       = 
| ethnicity         = 
| fields            = {{Tree list}}
* [[Entomology]]
** [[Myrmecology]]
{{tree list/end}}
| workplaces        = {{Tree list}}
* [[Harvard University]] 
** [[Harvard Museum of Natural History|Museum of Natural History]]
{{tree list/end}}
| education         = {{Plainlist|
* {{nowrap|[[University of Alabama]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]], [[Master of Science|MS]])}}
* [[Harvard University]] ([[PhD]])
}}
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Frank M. Carpenter]]
| thesis_title      = A Monographic Revision of the Ant Genus Lasius
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/301948222/
| thesis_year       = 1955
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Margaret A. Dix]] (1968)
* [[Daniel Simberloff]] (1969)
* [[Donald J. Farish]] (1970)
* [[James D. Weinrich]] (1976)
* [[Mark W. Moffett]] (1987)
}}
| known_for         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Sociobiology]]
* [[Island biogeography]]
* [[Epic of evolution]]
* [[Character displacement]]
* [[Biophilia hypothesis]]
* [[Taxon cycle]]
}}
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| awards            = {{collapsible list|title=&nbsp;|{{ubl|item_style={{longitem}}
 |[[Newcomb Cleveland Prize]] (1967)
 |[[National Medal of Science]] (1977)
 |[[Leidy Award]] (1979)
 |[[Pulitzer Prize]] (1979)
 |[[Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement]] (1984)
 |[[Crafoord Prize]] (1990)
 |[[Pulitzer Prize]] (1991)
 |[[International Prize for Biology]] (1993)
 |[[Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science]] (1994)
 |[[Kistler Prize]] (2000)
 |King Faisal Prize (2000)
 |[[Global Environmental Citizen Award]] (2001)
 |[[Nierenberg Prize]] (2001)
 |[[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] in Ecology and Conservation Biology (2010)
 |[[International Cosmos Prize]] (2012)
 |[[Kew International Medal]] (2014)<ref name=seb>{{cite web|url=https://www.kew.org/about-our-organisation/press-media/press-releases/ethiopia%E2%80%99s-prof-sebsebe-demissew-awarded|title=Ethiopia's Prof. Sebsebe Demissew awarded prestigious Kew International Medal – Kew|website=kew.org|access-date=May 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517100234/https://www.kew.org/about-our-organisation/press-media/press-releases/ethiopia%E2%80%99s-prof-sebsebe-demissew-awarded|archive-date=May 17, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}}}
| signature         = <!--(filename only)-->
| footnotes         = 
| spouse            = {{Marriage|Irene Kelley|1955}}
}}

'''Edward Osborne Wilson''' {{postnominals|list=[[Foreign Member of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]]}} (June 10, 1929 – December 26, 2021) was an American [[biologist]], [[naturalist]], [[ecologist]], and [[Entomology|entomologist]] known for developing the field of [[sociobiology]].

Born in [[Alabama]], Wilson found an early interest in nature and frequented the outdoors. At age seven, he was partially blinded in a fishing accident; due to his reduced sight, Wilson resolved to study [[entomology]]. After graduating from the [[University of Alabama]], he earned his doctorate at [[Harvard University]], where he distinguished himself in multiple fields. In 1956, he co-authored a paper defining the theory of [[character displacement]]. In 1967, he developed the theory of [[island biogeography]] with [[Robert MacArthur]].

Wilson was the [[Joseph Pellegrino University Professor|Pellegrino University Research Professor Emeritus]] in Entomology for the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at [[Harvard University]], a lecturer at [[Duke University]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/02/12/eo-wilson-advocates-biodiversity-preservation |title=E.O. Wilson advocates biodiversity preservation |publisher=Duke Chronicle |date=February 12, 2014 |access-date=April 23, 2014 |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725065536/http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/02/12/eo-wilson-advocates-biodiversity-preservation |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a fellow of the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]]. The Royal Swedish Academy awarded Wilson the [[Crafoord Prize]]. He was a humanist laureate of the [[International Academy of Humanism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/naturalconnections/edward_wilson_bio.htm |title=Natural Connections > Edward Wilson Bio |access-date=December 6, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002082419/http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/naturalconnections/edward_wilson_bio.htm |archive-date=October 2, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208080544/http://alabamaliterarymap.org/author.cfm?AuthorID=16 |archive-date=December 8, 2010 |url=http://alabamaliterarymap.org/author.cfm?AuthorID=16 |title=E. O. Wilson biography |publisher=AlabamaLiteraryMap.org |access-date=April 23, 2014}}</ref> He was a two-time winner of the [[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction]] (for ''[[On Human Nature]]'' in [[1979 Pulitzer Prize|1979]], and ''[[The Ants]]'' in [[1991 Pulitzer Prize|1991]]) and a [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' bestselling]] author for ''[[The Social Conquest of Earth]]'',<ref name="CowlesG">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2012-05-06/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Gregory |last=Cowles |title=Print & E-Books}}</ref> ''[[Letters to a Young Scientist]]'',<ref name="CowlesG" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoffman |first1=Jascha |title=Advice to Researchers and Reanimating Dead Mice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/science/advice-to-researchers-and-reanimating-dead-mice.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/science/advice-to-researchers-and-reanimating-dead-mice.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited |website=The New York Times |access-date=November 21, 2020 |date=March 25, 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and ''The Meaning of Human Existence''.

Wilson's work received both praise and criticism during his lifetime. His 1975 book ''[[Sociobiology: The New Synthesis]]'' was a particular flashpoint for controversy, and drew criticism from the [[Sociobiology Study Group]].<ref name="Segerstråle-1986">{{Cite journal |last=Segerstråle |first=Ullica |author-link=Ullica Segerstråle |date=1986-03-01 |title=Colleagues in conflict: An 'in vivo' analysis of the sociobiology controversy |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00127089 |journal=Biology and Philosophy |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=53–87 |doi=10.1007/BF00127089 |s2cid=170270819 |issn=1572-8404 |quote=In October 1975, a group called the Sociobiology Study Group,' composed of professors, students, researchers and others from the Boston area launched an attack on Wilson's Sociobiology, which by then had received widespread publicity and positive reviews.|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Perry-2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Perry |first1=George |author-link=George Perry (neuroscientist) |last2=Mace |first2=Ruth |author-link2=Ruth Mace |date=2010-06-01 |title=The lack of acceptance of evolutionary approaches to human behaviour |url=https://akjournals.com/view/journals/1126/8/2/article-p105.xml |journal=Journal of Evolutionary Psychology |language=en-US |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=105–125 |doi=10.1556/jep.8.2010.2.2 |issn=1789-2082 |quote=''Sociobiology'' was initially well received by most biologists, who appreciated the detailed empirical and theoretical work on animal social behaviour... However, a huge controversy throughout the 1970s and 80s, known as the sociobiology debate, soon followed.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Wilson's interpretation of the theory of evolution resulted in a widely reported dispute with [[Richard Dawkins]] about [[multilevel selection theory]].<ref name="Thorpe-2012">{{Cite news |last=Thorpe |first=Vanessa |date=2012-06-23 |title=Richard Dawkins in furious row with EO Wilson over theory of evolution |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/jun/24/battle-of-the-professors |access-date=2023-04-13 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> Examinations of his letters after his death revealed that he had supported the psychologist [[J. Philippe Rushton]], whose work on [[race and intelligence]] is widely regarded by the scientific community as deeply flawed and racist.<ref>{{multiref|For information about Wilson's support of Rushton, see {{cite web |last1=Farina |first1=Stacy |last2=Gibbons |first2=Matthew |date=1 February 2022 |title="The Last Refuge of Scoundrels": New Evidence of E. O. Wilson's Intimacy with Scientific Racism |url=https://magazine.scienceforthepeople.org/online/the-last-refuge-of-scoundrels/ |access-date=8 February 2022 |work=[[Science for the People#Magazine|Science for the People]]}}|{{Cite news |last=Schulson |first=Michael |date=16 February 2022 |title=New Evidence Revives Old Questions About E.O. Wilson and Race |url=https://undark.org/2022/02/16/new-evidence-revives-old-questions-about-e-o-wilson-and-race/ |access-date=10 November 2024 |work=[[Undark Magazine]] |publisher=[[Knight Science Journalism]] |language=en-US}}|{{cite web |date=April 18, 2022 |title=E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation » A Statement on E.O. Wilson and the Rushton Correspondence |url=https://eowilsonfoundation.org/eow/a-statement-on-e-o-wilson-and-the-j-philippe-rushton-correspondence/ |access-date=June 13, 2023}}}}</ref><ref>{{multiref|For information about Rushton's racism and promotion of pseudoscience, see {{cite journal|last=Graves|first=J. L.|author-link=Joseph L. Graves|title=What a tangled web he weaves: Race, reproductive strategies and Rushton's life history theory|journal=Anthropological Theory|volume=2|issue=2|year=2002|pages=131–154|issn=1463-4996|doi=10.1177/1469962002002002627|s2cid=144377864}}|{{cite journal |first=C. Loring |last=Brace |author-link=C. Loring Brace|title=Review: Racialism and Racist Agendas |journal=American Anthropologist |series=New Series |volume=98 |issue=1 |pages=176–7 |date=March 1996 |jstor=682972 |doi=10.1525/aa.1996.98.1.02a00250}}|Francisco Gil-White, [http://www.hirhome.com/rr/rrchap10.htm Resurrecting Racism, Chapter 10] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618042900/http://www.hirhome.com/rr/rrchap10.htm |date=2012-06-18 }}|{{cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=Judith L.|title=Rushton's racial comparisons: An ecological critique of theory and method.|journal=Canadian Psychology|volume=32|issue=1|year=1991|pages=51–62|issn=1878-7304|doi=10.1037/h0078956|s2cid=54854642}}|Douglas Wahlsten (2001) [https://web.archive.org/web/20060226020150/http://www.cjsonline.ca/articles/wahlsten.html Book Review of Race, Evolution and Behavior]|{{cite book | last = Leslie | first = Charles | title = New Horizons in Medical Anthropology | url = https://archive.org/details/newhorizonsmedic00lock | url-access = limited | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-0-415-27793-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newhorizonsmedic00lock/page/n31 17]}}|{{cite book | last = Kuznar | first = Lawrence | title = Reclaiming a Scientific Anthropology | publisher = AltaMira Press | location = Walnut Creek | year = 1997 | isbn = 978-0-7619-9114-4 |page=104}}}}</ref>

==Early life==
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.<ref name="nytobit">{{Cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Zimmer |date=December 27, 2021 |title=E.O. Wilson, a pioneer of evolutionary biology, dies at 92 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/science/eo-wilson-dead.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=December 27, 2021}}</ref> According to his autobiography, ''[[Naturalist (book)|Naturalist]]'', he grew up in various towns in the [[Southern United States]] which included [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Decatur, Alabama|Decatur]], and [[Pensacola]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Edward O. |year=2006 |title=Naturalist |title-link=Naturalist (book) |isbn=1-59726-088-6 |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=69669557 |page=[[iarchive:naturalist0000wils/page/52/mode/1up|52]]}}</ref> From an early age, he was interested in [[natural history]]. His father was an alcoholic who eventually committed suicide. His parents allowed him to bring home [[Latrodectus|black widow spiders]] and keep them on the porch.<ref name="last">{{Cite news |last1=Olsen |first1=Erik |last2=Gorman |first2=James |last3=Stein |first3=Robin |date=December 27, 2021 |title=Video: The Last Word: E.O. Wilson |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/obituaries/1194834030869/last-word-e-o-wilson-obituary.html |access-date=January 17, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> They divorced when he was seven years old.

In the same year that his parents divorced, Wilson blinded himself in his right eye in a fishing accident.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-26 |title=On the Accidental Career of E.O. Wilson |url=https://lithub.com/on-the-accidental-career-of-e-o-wilson/ |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite the prolonged pain, he did not stop fishing. He did not complain because he was anxious to stay outdoors, and never sought medical treatment. Several months later, his right pupil clouded over with a [[cataract]]. He was admitted to [[Pensacola Hospital]] to have the lens removed. Wilson writes, in his autobiography, that the "surgery was a terrifying [19th] century ordeal". Wilson retained full sight in his left eye, with a vision of 20/10. The 20/10 vision prompted him to focus on "little things": "I noticed butterflies and ants more than other kids did, and took an interest in them automatically." Although he had lost his [[stereoscopy|stereoscopic vision]], he could still see fine print and the hairs on the bodies of small insects. His reduced ability to observe mammals and birds led him to concentrate on insects.<ref name="Wilson-2006">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Edward O. |title=Naturalist |publisher=Island Press [for] Shearwater Books |year=2006 |isbn=1-59726-088-6 |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=69669557}}</ref>

At the age of nine, Wilson undertook his first expeditions at [[Rock Creek Park]] in Washington, D.C. He began to collect insects and he gained a passion for butterflies. He would capture them using nets made with brooms, coat hangers, and cheesecloth bags.<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> Going on these expeditions led to Wilson's fascination with ants. He describes in his autobiography how one day he pulled the bark of a rotting tree away and discovered [[Acanthomyops|citronella ants]] underneath.<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> The worker ants he found were "short, fat, brilliant yellow, and emitted a strong lemony odor".<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> Wilson said the event left a "vivid and lasting impression".<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> He also earned the [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] award and served as Nature Director of his [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]] summer camp. At age&nbsp;18, intent on becoming an [[entomologist]], he began by collecting [[Diptera|flies]], but the shortage of insect pins during World War&nbsp;II caused him to switch to [[ant]]s, 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]]. This study led him to report the first colony of [[fire ants]] in the U.S., near the port of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buhs |first1=Joshua Blu |title=The Fire Ant Wars: Nature, Science, and Public Policy in Twentieth-Century America |date=2004 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-07981-3 |pages=32–34}}</ref>

=== Education ===

Wilson said he went to 15 or 16 schools during 11 years of schooling.<ref name="last"/> He was concerned that he might not be able to afford to go to a university, and he tried to enlist in the United States Army, intending to earn U.S. government financial support for his education. He failed the Army medical examination due to his impaired eyesight,<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> but was able to afford to enroll in the [[University of Alabama]], where he earned his [[Bachelor of Science]] in 1949 and [[Master of Science]] in biology in 1950. The next year, Wilson transferred to [[Harvard University]].<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> 
 
Appointed to the [[Harvard Society of Fellows]], he traveled on overseas expeditions, collecting ant species from Cuba and Mexico and traveling the South Pacific, including Australia, New Guinea, Fiji, and New Caledonia, as well as to Sri Lanka. In 1955, he received his Ph.D. and married Irene Kelley.<ref name="Academy of Achievement">{{cite web |title=Edward O. Wilson biography and interview |website=achievement.org |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]] |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/edward-o-wilson-ph-d/#interview}}</ref><ref name="contempauthors">{{cite book |editor1-last=Fuller |editor1-first=Amy Elisabeth |year=2011 |chapter=Edward O. Wilson |title=Contemporary Authors |title-link=Contemporary Authors |volume=211 |pages=[[iarchive:contemporaryauth0211unse/page/432/mode/1up|432–437]] |publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] |isbn=978-1-4144-6167-0 |oclc=755975998 |issn=0275-7176 |chapter-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/wilson-edward-o-1929-edward-osborne-wilson}}</ref>

In ''[[Letters to a Young Scientist]]'', Wilson stated his [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]] was measured as 123.<ref>''[[Letters to a Young Scientist]]'', Chapter 6. "I personally made do with an underwhelming 123."</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://fs.blog/e-o-wilson-how-science-works/ | title=E.O. Wilson on Becoming a Great Scientist | date=December 17, 2015 }}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Plos wilson.jpg|thumb|Wilson in 2003]]
From 1956 until 1996, Wilson was part of the faculty of Harvard. He began as an ant [[taxonomy (biology)|taxonomist]] and worked on understanding their [[microevolution]], specifically how they developed into new [[species]] by escaping environmental disadvantages and moving into new habitats. He developed a theory of the "[[taxon cycle]]".<ref name="Academy of Achievement"/>

In collaboration with mathematician [[William H. Bossert]], Wilson developed a classification of [[pheromones]] based on insect communication patterns.<ref>{{Cite book|editor1-last=Vandenbergh|editor1-first=John|editor-link1=John Vandenbergh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUpYID8Rc3UC|title=Pheromones and Reproduction in Mammals|date=December 2, 2012|orig-year=1983|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-0-323-15651-6|language=en|doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-710780-6.X5001-8|page=254}}</ref> In the 1960s, he collaborated with mathematician and ecologist [[Robert MacArthur]] in developing the theory of species equilibrium. In the 1970s he and biologist [[Daniel S. Simberloff]] tested this theory on tiny mangrove islets in the Florida Keys. They eradicated all insect species and observed the [[repopulation]] by new species.<ref name="chambers1989">{{Cite book|title=Chambers Concise Dictionary of Scientists|year=1989|publisher=[[Chambers (publisher)|Chambers]]|isbn=1-85296-354-9|oclc=20820593|pages=[[iarchive:chambersconcised00mill/page/405/mode/1up|405–406]]}}</ref> Wilson and MacArthur's book ''[[The Theory of Island Biogeography]]'' became a standard ecology text.<ref name="Academy of Achievement"/>

In 1971, he published ''The Insect Societies'', which argued that insect behavior and the behavior of other animals are influenced by similar evolutionary pressures.<ref name="larousse19942">{{Cite book|title=Larousse Dictionary of Scientists|publisher=[[Éditions Larousse]]|year=1994|isbn=0-7523-0002-4|editor1-last=Muir|editor1-first=Hazel|page=[[iarchive:laroussedictiona00haze/page/555/mode/1up|555]]|oclc=30935778}}</ref> In 1973, Wilson was appointed the curator of entomology at the Harvard [[Museum of Comparative Zoology]].<ref name="mooredecker2008">{{Cite book|last1=Moore|first1=Randy|last2=Decker|first2=Mark D.|chapter=Edward O. Wilson (b. 1929)|title=More than Darwin: An Encyclopedia of the People and Places of the Evolution-Creationism Controversy|year=2008|isbn=978-0-313-34155-7|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|oclc=177023758|pages=[[iarchive:morethandarwinen0000moor/page/371/mode/1up|371–373]]}}</ref> In 1975, he published the book ''[[Sociobiology: The New Synthesis]]'' applying his theories of insect behavior to vertebrates, and in the last chapter, to humans. He speculated that evolved and inherited tendencies were responsible for hierarchical social organization among humans. In 1978 he published ''[[On Human Nature]]'', which dealt with the role of biology in the evolution of human culture and won a [[Pulitzer Prize]] for General Nonfiction.<ref name="Academy of Achievement"/>

Wilson was named the Frank B. Baird Jr., Professor of Science in 1976 and, after he retired from Harvard in 1996, he became the Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus.<ref name="mooredecker2008"/>

In 1981 after collaborating with biologist [[Charles Lumsden]], he published ''Genes, Mind and Culture'', a theory of [[gene-culture coevolution]]. In 1990 he published ''[[The Ants]]'', co-written with zoologist [[Bert Hölldobler]], winning his second Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.<ref name="Academy of Achievement"/>

In the 1990s, he published ''The Diversity of Life'' (1992); an autobiography, ''[[Naturalist (book)|Naturalist]]'' (1994); and ''[[Consilience (book)|Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge]]'' (1998) about the unity of the natural and social sciences.<ref name="Academy of Achievement"/> Wilson was praised for his environmental advocacy, and his [[Secular humanism|secular-humanist]] and [[Deism|deist]] ideas pertaining to religious and ethical matters.<ref name="cnn">{{cite news |last=Novacek |first=Michael J. |year=2001 |title=Lifetime achievement: E.O. Wilson |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/americasbest/science.medicine/pro.eowilson.html |access-date=November 8, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061014091550/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/americasbest/science.medicine/pro.eowilson.html |archive-date=October 14, 2006}}</ref>

Wilson was characterized by several titles during his career, including the "father of biodiversity",<ref name="Father of Biodiversity">{{cite news |last=Becker |first=Michael |date=April 9, 2009 |title=MSU presents Presidential Medal to famed scientist Edward O. Wilson |newspaper=MSU News |url=http://www.montana.edu/news/7071/msu-presents-presidential-medal-to-famed-scientist-edward-o-wilson |access-date=May 9, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=reports |first=wire |date=2021-12-27 |title='Father of biodiversity' E.O. Wilson dies at 92 |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2021/12/father-of-biodiversity-eo-wilson-dies-at-92.html |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=oregonlive |language=en}}</ref> "ant man",<ref name="Obit-Guardian">{{cite web |author=Georgina Ferry |date=6 January 2022 |title=Edward O Wilson obituary: US biologist and champion of biodiversity who specialised in the study of ants and was regarded as a modern-day Charles Darwin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/06/edward-o-wilson-obituary |access-date=8 February 2022 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> and "Darwin's heir".<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-12-27 |title=Leading American naturalist EO Wilson, dubbed 'Darwin's heir', dies at 92 |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59803766 |access-date=2022-12-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-27 |title=E.O. Wilson, 'Darwin's natural heir,' dies at age 92 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/eo-wilson-darwins-natural-heir-dies-at-age-92 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227173130/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/eo-wilson-darwins-natural-heir-dies-at-age-92 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 27, 2021 |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=National Geographic |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-27 |title=E.O. Wilson, known as the modern-day Darwin, dies at 92 |url=https://lifestyle.livemint.com//smart-living/environment/eo-wilson-known-as-the-modern-day-darwin-dies-at-92-111640600830295.html |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=Mintlounge |language=en}}</ref> In a [[PBS]] interview, [[David Attenborough]] described Wilson as "a magic name to many of us working in the natural world, for two reasons. First, he is a towering example of a specialist, a world authority. Nobody in the world has ever known as much as Ed Wilson about ants. But, in addition to that intense knowledge and understanding, he has the widest of pictures. He sees the planet and the natural world that it contains in amazing detail but extraordinary coherence".<ref>{{Cite web |title=NOVA {{!}} Transcripts {{!}} Lord of the Ants |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3509_eowilson.html |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=pbs.org}}</ref>

=== Disagreement with Richard Dawkins ===
Although [[Evolutionary biology|evolutionary biologist]] [[Richard Dawkins]] defended Wilson during the so-called "[[E.O. Wilson#Reception and controversy|sociobiology debate]]",<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Forrest |first=David V. |date=1999 |title=Edward O. Wilson's Consilience : Can Our Knowledge Be Unified? |url=http://guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/jaap.1.1999.27.3.371 |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis |language=en |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=371–386 |doi=10.1521/jaap.1.1999.27.3.371 |pmid=10615636 |issn=0090-3604|url-access=subscription }}</ref> a disagreement between them arose over the [[Evolution|theory of evolution]].<ref name="Thorpe-2012" /><ref name="Johnston-2014">{{Cite news |last=Johnston |first=Chris |date=2014-11-07 |title=Biological warfare flares up again between EO Wilson and Richard Dawkins |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/07/richard-dawkins-labelled-journalist-by-eo-wilson |access-date=2023-04-13 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The disagreement began in 2012 when Dawkins wrote a critical review of Wilson's book ''[[The Social Conquest of Earth]]'' in ''[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect Magazine]]''.<ref name="Thorpe-2012" /> In the review, Dawkins criticized Wilson for rejecting kin selection and for supporting [[group selection]], labeling it "bland" and "unfocused", and he wrote that the book's theoretical errors were "important, pervasive, and integral to its thesis in a way that renders it impossible to recommend".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |date=24 May 2012 |title=The descent of Edward Wilson |url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/technology/50176/the-descent-of-edward-wilson |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Prospect |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Connor |first=Steve |date=2014-11-10 |title=Why Richard Dawkins 'is not a scientist', the survival of the least selfish, and what ants tell us about humans - EO Wilson on his new book |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/why-richard-dawkins-is-no-scientist-the-survival-of-the-least-selfish-and-what-ants-can-tell-us-about-humans-eo-wilson-on-his-new-book-the-meaning-of-human-existence-9849956.html |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> Wilson responded in the same magazine and wrote that Dawkins made "little connection to the part he criticizes" and accused him of engaging in [[rhetoric]].<ref name="Johnston-2014" />

In 2014, Wilson said in an interview, "There is no dispute between me and Richard Dawkins and there never has been, because he's a journalist, and journalists are people that report what the scientists have found and the arguments I've had have actually been with scientists doing research".<ref name="Johnston-2014" /> Dawkins responded in a tweet: "I greatly admire EO Wilson & his huge contributions to entomology, ecology, biogeography, conservation, etc. He's just wrong on kin selection" and later added, "Anybody who thinks I'm a journalist who reports what other scientists think is invited to read ''[[The Extended Phenotype]]''".<ref name="Johnston-2014" /> Biologist [[Jerry Coyne]] wrote that Wilson's remarks were "unfair, inaccurate, and uncharitable".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coyne |first=Jerry |date=2014-11-07 |title=The group-selection dustup continues: E. O. Wilson calls Richard Dawkins a "journalist" |url=https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2014/11/07/the-group-selection-dustup-continues-e-o-wilson-calls-richard-dawkins-a-journalist/ |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Why Evolution Is True |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2021, in an [[obituary]] to Wilson, Dawkins stated that their dispute was "purely scientific".<ref name="Dawkins">{{Cite web |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |title=Edward O Wilson. My Obituary Tribute to him |url=https://richarddawkins.com/articles/article/eo-wilson-a-tribute-to-him-on-his-death |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=richarddawkins.com |language=en}}</ref> Dawkins wrote that he stands by his critical review and doesn't regret "its outspoken tone", but noted that he also stood by his "profound admiration for Professor Wilson and his life work".<ref name="Dawkins" />

=== Support of J. Philippe Rushton ===
Prior to Wilson's death, his personal correspondences were donated to the [[Library of Congress]] at the library's request.<ref name="Farina-2022">{{cite web |last1=Farina |first1=Stacy |last2=Gibbons |first2=Matthew |date=1 February 2022 |title="The Last Refuge of Scoundrels": New Evidence of E. O. Wilson's Intimacy with Scientific Racism |url=https://magazine.scienceforthepeople.org/online/the-last-refuge-of-scoundrels/ |access-date=8 February 2022 |work=[[Science for the People#Magazine|Science for the People]]}}</ref> Following his death, several articles were published discussing the discrepancy between Wilson's legacy as a champion of biogeography and conservation biology and his support of [[scientific racism|scientific racist]] pseudoscientist [[J. Philippe Rushton]] over several years. Rushton was a controversial psychologist at the [[University of Western Ontario]], who later headed the [[Pioneer Fund]].<ref name="Farina-2022" /><ref name="McLemore-2022">{{Cite web |last=McLemore |first=Monica R. |title=The Complicated Legacy of E. O. Wilson |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-complicated-legacy-of-e-o-wilson/ |access-date=2022-02-17 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Borrello |first1=Mark |last2=Sepkoski |first2=David |author2-link=David Sepkoski |date=5 February 2022 |title=Ideology as Biology |url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2022/02/05/ideology-as-biology/ |access-date=8 February 2022 |work=[[The New York Review of Books]]}} (registration required)</ref>

From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, Wilson wrote several emails to Rushton's colleagues defending Rushton's work in the face of widespread criticism for scholarly misconduct, misrepresentation of data, and confirmation bias, all of which were allegedly used by Rushton to support his personal ideas on race.<ref name="Farina-2022" /> Wilson also sponsored an article written by Rushton in ''[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|PNAS]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rushton |first1=J. P. |last2=Littlefield |first2=C. H. |last3=Lumsden |first3=C. J. |date=1986-10-01 |title=Gene-culture coevolution of complex social behavior: human altruism and mate choice |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=83 |issue=19 |pages=7340–7343 |bibcode=1986PNAS...83.7340R |doi=10.1073/pnas.83.19.7340 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=386712 |pmid=3463973 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and during the review process, Wilson intentionally sought out reviewers for the article who he believed would likely already agree with its premise.<ref name="Farina-2022" /> Wilson kept his support of Rushton's racist ideologies behind-the-scenes so as to not draw too much attention to himself or tarnish his own reputation.<ref name="Schulson-2022">{{Cite news |last=Schulson |first=Michael |date=16 February 2022 |title=New Evidence Revives Old Questions About E.O. Wilson and Race |url=https://undark.org/2022/02/16/new-evidence-revives-old-questions-about-e-o-wilson-and-race/ |access-date=10 November 2024 |work=[[Undark Magazine]] |publisher=[[Knight Science Journalism]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Wilson responded to another request from Rushton to sponsor a second PNAS article with the following: "You have my support in many ways, but for me to sponsor an article on racial differences in the PNAS would be counterproductive for both of us." Wilson also remarked that the reason Rushton's ideologies were not more widely supported is because of the "... fear of being called racist, which is virtually a death sentence in American academia if taken seriously. I admit that I myself have tended to avoid the subject of Rushton's work, out of fear."<ref name="Farina-2022" />

In 2022, the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation issued a statement rejecting Wilson's support of Rushton and racism, on behalf of the board of directors and staff.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 18, 2022 |title=E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation » A Statement on E.O. Wilson and the Rushton Correspondence |url=https://eowilsonfoundation.org/eow/a-statement-on-e-o-wilson-and-the-j-philippe-rushton-correspondence/ |access-date=June 13, 2023}} The Foundation's statement was first issued in February 2022 prior to a full investigation. It was updated in April 2022, reaffirming the original statement, after reviewing the correspondence.</ref>

==Work==

===''Sociobiology: The New Synthesis'', 1975===
{{main|Sociobiology: The New Synthesis}}
[[File:E. O. Wilson posing, October 16, 2007.jpg|thumb|Wilson at the [[Peabody Museum of Natural History]], 2007]]
Wilson used sociobiology and evolutionary principles to explain the behavior of social insects and then to understand the social behavior of other animals, including humans, thus establishing sociobiology as a new scientific field.<ref name=npr>{{cite news|title=E.O. Wilson, famed entomologist and pioneer in the field of sociobiology, dies at 92 |author = Neuman, Scott | url=https://www.npr.org/2021/12/27/1068238333/e-o-wilson-dead-sociobiology-entomology-ant-man |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |accessdate=December 28, 2021 |date=December 27, 2021}}</ref> He argued that all animal behavior, including that of humans, is the product of [[heredity]], environmental stimuli, and past experiences, and that [[free will]] is an illusion. He referred to the biological basis of behavior as the "genetic leash".<ref name="con">E. O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, New York, Knopf, 1998.</ref>{{rp|127–128}} The sociobiological view is that all animal social behavior is governed by [[Epigenetics|epigenetic]] rules worked out by the laws of [[evolution]]. This theory and research proved to be seminal, controversial, and influential.<ref name="wolfe2012">{{Cite book|chapter=Sorry, But Your Soul Just Died|last=Wolfe|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Wolfe|title=Hooking Up|year=2012|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|isbn=978-0-09-956588-8|location=London|oclc=779244291|pages=[[iarchive:hookingup0000wolf a2k2/page/77/mode/1up|77ff]]}}</ref>

Wilson 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 regard to the use of [[kin selection]] in explaining the behavior of [[Eusociality|eusocial]] insects, the "new view that I'm proposing is that it was [[group selection]] all along, an idea first roughly formulated by Darwin."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2006/jun/e-o-wilson |title=Discover Interview: E.O. Wilson |website=[[Discover (magazine)|Discover]] |access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref>

Sociobiological research was at the time particularly controversial with regard to its application to humans.<ref name=NYTnov1975>{{cite news |last1=Rensberger|first1=Boyce |title=The Basic Elements of the Arguments Are Not New |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/09/archives/the-basic-elements-of-the-arguments-are-not-new-the-politics-in-a.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 9, 1975}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Restak|first1=Richard M.|title=Is Our Culture In Our Genes?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/24/books/is-our-culture-in-our-genes.html|access-date=January 2, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=April 24, 1983}}</ref>

====Reception and controversy====
''Sociobiology: The New Synthesis'' was initially met with praise by most biologists.<ref name="Segerstråle-1986" /><ref name="Perry-2010" /> After substantial criticism of the book was launched by the [[Sociobiology Study Group]], associated with the organization [[Science for the People]], a major controversy known as the "sociobiology debate" ensued,<ref name="Segerstråle-1986" /><ref name="Perry-2010" /> and Wilson was accused of [[racism]], [[misogyny]], and support for [[eugenics]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Douglas |first=Ed |date=February 17, 2001 |title=Darwin's natural heir |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2001/feb/17/books.guardianreview57 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> Several of Wilson's colleagues at Harvard,<ref name="grafen75">{{cite book |title=Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think |last=Grafen |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Grafen |author2=Ridley, Mark |author2-link=Mark Ridley (zoologist) |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City |isbn=0-19-929116-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/richarddawkinsho00alan/page/75 75] |title-link=Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think }}</ref> such as [[Richard Lewontin]] and [[Stephen Jay Gould]], both members of the Group, were strongly opposed. Both focused their criticism mostly on Wilson's sociobiological writings.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jumonville |first=Neil |date=2002 |title=The Cultural Politics of the Sociobiology Debate |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4331761 |journal=Journal of the History of Biology |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=569–593 |doi=10.1023/A:1021190227056 |jstor=4331761 |s2cid=83077910 |issn=0022-5010|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Gould, Lewontin, and other members, wrote "Against 'Sociobiology'" in an [[open letter]] criticizing Wilson's "deterministic view of human society and human action".<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Schreier|first1=Herb|last2=Rosenthal|first2=Miriam|last3=Pyeritz|first3=Reed|last4=Miller|first4=Larry|last5=Madansky|first5=Chuck|last6=Lewontin|first6=Richard C.|last7=Leeds|first7=Anthony|last8=Inouye|first8=Hiroshi|last9=Hubbard|first9=Ruth|title=Against "Sociobiology"|journal=The New York Review of Books|language=en|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1975/11/13/against-sociobiology/|access-date=December 28, 2021|issn=0028-7504}}</ref> Other public lectures, reading groups, and press releases were organized criticizing Wilson's work. In response, Wilson produced a discussion article entitled "Academic Vigilantism and the Political Significance of Sociobiology" in ''[[BioScience]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Dialogue. The Response: Academic Vigilantism and the Political Significance of Sociobiology|first=Edward O.|last= Wilson|journal=[[BioScience]]|volume= 26 |issue=3 |date=March 1976|pages= 183, 187–190| publisher=[[University of California Press]]|doi=10.2307/1297247|jstor=1297247}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first = Adrian | last = Wooldridge | author-link = Adrian Wooldridge | title = Measuring the Mind: Education and Psychology in England c.1860-c.1990| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0-521-39515-1 | url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/measuring-the-mind/01C74BB51BFF67CB064EEA01102C3057 | chapter = Equality and human nature| pages = 369–373 }}</ref>

In February 1978, while participating in a discussion on sociobiology at the annual meeting of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], Wilson was surrounded, chanted at and doused with water{{Efn|While primary and eyewitness accounts agree that the phrase "Racist Wilson you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!" was chanted, and that water was poured on Wilson's head, they disagree on whether a cup<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hull |first=David L. |author-link=David Hull (philosopher) |date=12 October 2000 |title=Activism, scientists and sociobiology |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=407 |issue=6805 |pages=673–674 |doi=10.1038/35037645 |bibcode=2000Natur.407..673H |s2cid=142764821 |issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Gould Fox"/> or a pitcher/jug<ref>{{cite news|title=Water Poured on Harvard Professor's Head|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date= February 16, 1978|page=24|url=https://sfchronicle.newsbank.com/doc/image/v2:142051F45F422A02@NGPA-CASFC-15343D3E57695588@2443556-153293594F0FE3C3@23-153293594F0FE3C3|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Segerstråle |first1=Ullica |author1-link=Ullica Segerstråle |title=Defenders of the Truth: The Battle for Science in the Sociobiology Debate and Beyond |date=2000 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-850505-1 |page=23 |url=https://archive.org/details/segerstrale-defenders-of-the-truth-the-sociobiology-debate-2000/page/22/mode/2up |language=English}}</ref> was used.}} by members of the [[International Committee Against Racism]], who accused Wilson of advocating racism and [[Biological determinism|genetic determinism]]. Steven Jay Gould, who was present at the event, and Science for the People, which had previously protested Wilson, condemned the attack.<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 14| last = Cooke| first = Robert| title = Protesters douse Harvard speaker| work = The Boston Globe | date = 1978-02-16| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109525538/attack-on-eo-wilson-at-1978-aaas/}}</ref><ref name="Gould Fox">{{cite book |last1=Gould |first1=Stephen Jay |title=The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox: Mending the Gap Between Science and the Humanities |date=2003 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-609-60140-2 |page=204 |url=https://archive.org/details/hedgehogfoxmagis0000goul/page/204/mode/2up}}</ref>

Philosopher [[Mary Midgley]] encountered ''Sociobiology'' in the process of writing ''Beast and Man'' (1979)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Midgley |first1=Mary |title=Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |location=London [u.a.] |isbn=0-415-12740-8 |page=xli |edition= Rev.}}</ref> and significantly rewrote the book to offer a critique of Wilson's views. Midgley praised the book for the study of animal behavior, clarity, scholarship, and encyclopedic scope, but extensively critiqued Wilson for conceptual confusion, [[scientism]], and [[anthropomorphism]] of genetics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Midgley |first1=Mary |title=Beast and man: the roots of human nature |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |location=London [u.a.] |isbn=0-415-12740-8 |page=xl |edition= Rev.}}</ref>

===''On Human Nature'', 1978===
Wilson wrote in his 1978 book ''[[On Human Nature]]'', "The evolutionary epic is probably the best myth we will ever have."<ref>Wilson (1979), ''[[On Human Nature]]'', p. 21.</ref> Wilson's fame prompted use of the morphed phrase [[epic of evolution]].<ref name="cnn" /> The book won the [[Pulitzer Prize]] in 1979.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Walsh |first1=Bryan |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2011/08/30/all-time-100-best-nonfiction-books/slide/on-human-nature-by-edward-o-wilson/ |title=All-Time 100 Nonfiction Books |date=August 17, 2011 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=January 2, 2018}}</ref>

===''The Ants'', 1990===
Wilson, along with [[Bert Hölldobler]], carried out a systematic study of ants and ant behavior,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/science/15wils.html |title=Taking a Cue From Ants on Evolution of Humans |work=The New York Times |author=Nicholas Wade |date=July 15, 2008}}</ref> culminating in the 1990 encyclopedic work ''[[The Ants]]''. 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 they share 75% of their genes (though the actual case is some species' queens mate with multiple males and therefore some workers in a colony would only be 25% related), Wilson argued for a sociobiological explanation for all social behavior on the model of the behavior of the social insects.

Wilson said in reference to ants that "[[Karl Marx]] was right, [[socialism]] works, it is just that he had the wrong species".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E6D71F31F931A25756C0A96E958260&sec=&spon= |work=The New York Times |title=Scientist at Work: Edward O. Wilson; From Ants to Ethics: A Biologist Dreams Of Unity of Knowledge |first=Nicholas |last=Wade |date=May 12, 1998 |access-date=May 1, 2010}}</ref> He asserted that individual ants and other [[eusocial]] species were able to reach higher [[Darwinian fitness]] putting the needs of the colony above their own needs as individuals because they lack reproductive independence: individual ants cannot reproduce without a queen, so they can only increase their fitness by working to enhance the fitness of the colony as a whole. Humans, however, do possess reproductive independence, and so individual humans enjoy their maximum level of Darwinian fitness by looking after their own survival and having their own offspring.<ref>{{Cite interview |title=Karl Marx was right, socialism works |last=Wilson |first=Edward O. |location=Harvard University |date=March 27, 1997 |url=http://www.froes.dds.nl/WILSON.htm}}</ref>

===''Consilience'', 1998===
In his 1998 book ''[[Consilience (book)|Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge]]'', Wilson discussed methods that have been used to unite the sciences and might be able to unite the sciences with the humanities. He argued that knowledge is a single, unified thing, not divided between science and humanistic inquiry.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gillespie|first=Charles C.|year=1998|title=E. O. Wilson's ''Consilience'': A Noble, Unifying Vision, Grandly Expressed|journal=[[American Scientist]]|volume=86|issue=3|pages=280–283|issn=0003-0996|jstor=27857028}}</ref> Wilson used the term "[[consilience]]" to describe the synthesis of knowledge from different specialized fields of human endeavor. He defined [[human nature]] as a collection of [[Epigenetics|epigenetic]] rules, the genetic patterns of mental development. He argued that culture and rituals are products, not parts, of human nature. He said art is not part of human nature, but our appreciation of art is. He suggested that concepts such as art appreciation, fear of snakes, or the [[incest]] [[taboo]] ([[Westermarck effect]]) could be studied by scientific methods of the natural sciences and be part of interdisciplinary research.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Consilience |last=Wilson |first= Edward O. |date=March 30, 1999 |url= |access-date= |isbn=9780679768678 |oclc=53085903 |publisher = [[Penguin Random House]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

==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".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://harvardmagazine.com/2005/11/intelligent-evolution.html|title=Intelligent Evolution|last=Wilson|first=Edward O.|date=November 1, 2005|website=Harvard Magazine|language=en|access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> Wilson argued that it is best suited to improve the human condition. In 2003, he was one of the signers of the [[Humanism and Its Aspirations|''Humanist Manifesto'']].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |title=Notable Signers |publisher=American Humanist Association |work=Humanism and Its Aspirations |access-date=October 6, 2012 |archive-date=October 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005105825/http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===God and religion===
On the question of God, Wilson described his position as "provisional deism"<ref>''The Creation''{{page needed|date=April 2014}}</ref> and explicitly denied the label of "[[Atheism|atheist]]", preferring "[[Agnosticism|agnostic]]".<ref name="slate">{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2015/02/e_o_wilson_on_the_meaning_of_human_existence_warnings_about_earth_s_future.html |title=Why Do We Ignore Warnings About Earth's Future? |last=Sarchet |first=Penny |date=February 1, 2015 |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |quote=In fact, I'm not an atheist&nbsp;... I would even say I'm agnostic}}</ref> He 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."<ref name="con" /> Wilson argued that belief in God and the rituals of religion are products of [[evolutionary origin of religions|evolution]].<ref>Human Nature{{page needed|date=April 2014}}</ref> He argued that they should not be rejected or dismissed, but further investigated by science to better understand their significance to human nature. In his book ''The Creation'', Wilson wrote that scientists ought to "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."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2006/06/naturalist-e-o-wilson-is-optimistic/ |title=Naturalist E.O. Wilson is optimistic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324162927/http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/06.15/03-biodiversity.html |archive-date=March 24, 2008 |magazine=[[Harvard Gazette]] |date=June 15, 2006}}</ref>

Wilson made an appeal to the religious community on the lecture circuit at Midland College, Texas, for example, and that "the appeal received a 'massive reply'", that a covenant had been written and that a "partnership will work to a substantial degree as time goes on".<ref>''Scientist says there is hope to save planet'' {{Cite web |url=http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2009/09/18/news/top_stories/doc4ab31071978e4063758641.txt |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 21, 2009 |archive-date=January 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129122836/http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2009/09/18/news/top_stories/doc4ab31071978e4063758641.txt |url-status=dead }} mywesttexas.com, September 18, 2009</ref>

In a ''[[New Scientist]]'' interview published on January 21, 2015, however, Wilson said that religious faith is "dragging us down", and:
{{blockquote|I would say that for the sake of human progress, the best thing we could possibly do would be to diminish, to the point of eliminating, religious faiths. But certainly not eliminating the natural yearnings of our species or the asking of these great questions.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530050-400-e-o-wilson-religious-faith-is-dragging-us-down/|title=E. O. Wilson: Religious faith is dragging us down|date=January 21, 2015|magazine=[[New Scientist]]|author=Penny Sarchet|access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref>}}

===Ecology===
Wilson said that, if he could start his life over he would work in [[microbial ecology]], when discussing the reinvigoration of his original fields of study since the 1960s.<ref>{{cite video |people=Edward O. Wilson |date=2008 |title=Lord of the Ants |url=http://documentaryhive.com/lord-of-the-ants/ |format=documentary film |medium=television |work=[[Nova (American TV series)|Nova]] |publisher=[[WGBH-TV|WGBH]] |access-date=March 1, 2009 |archive-date=October 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015224600/http://documentaryhive.com/lord-of-the-ants/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He studied the [[mass extinction]]s of the 20th century and their relationship to modern society, and identifying mass extinction as the greatest threat to [[Future of Earth|Earth's future]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ruse |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Ruse |date=20 July 1998 |title=E.O. Wilson |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-O-Wilson |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref> In 1998 argued for an ecological approach at the Capitol:

{{blockquote|Now when you cut a forest, an [[ancient forest]] in particular, you are not just removing a lot of big trees and a few birds fluttering around in the [[Canopy (forest)|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.&nbsp;... Many of them are still unknown to science, and science has not yet discovered the key role undoubtedly played in the maintenance of that [[ecosystem]], as in the case of [[Fungus|fungi]], [[microorganism]]s, and many of the insects.<ref name="slide2">{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Edward Osborne |date=28 April 1998 |url=http://www.saveamericasforests.org/wilson/second.htm |title=Slide show |page=2 |website=saveamericasforests.org |access-date=13 November 2008}}</ref>}}

From the late 1970s Wilson was actively involved in the global conservation of biodiversity, contributing and promoting research. In 1984 he published ''Biophilia'', a work that explored the evolutionary and psychological basis of humanity's attraction to the natural environment. This work introduced the word [[Biophilia hypothesis|biophilia]] which influenced the shaping of modern conservation ethics. In 1988 Wilson edited the ''BioDiversity'' volume, based on the proceedings of the first US national conference on the subject, which also introduced the term [[biodiversity]] into the language. This work was very influential in creating the modern field of biodiversity studies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation » E.O. Wilson|url=https://eowilsonfoundation.org/e-o-wilson/|access-date=December 27, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2011, Wilson led scientific expeditions to the [[Gorongosa National Park]] in [[Mozambique]] and the [[archipelago]]s of [[Vanuatu]] and [[New Caledonia]] in the southwest Pacific. Wilson was part of the international [[conservation movement]], as a consultant to Columbia University's [[Earth Institute]], as a director of the [[American Museum of Natural History]], [[Conservation International]], [[The Nature Conservancy]] and the [[World Wildlife Fund]].<ref name="Academy of Achievement" />

Understanding the scale of the extinction crisis led him to advocate for forest protection,<ref name="slide2" /> including the "Act to Save America's Forests", first introduced in 1998 and reintroduced in 2008, but never passed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saveamericasforests.org/congress/congress.htm |title=Congress – The Act to Save America's Forests |website=Saveamericasforests.org |access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref> The [[Forests Now Declaration]] called for new markets-based mechanisms to protect tropical forests.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalcanopy.org/projects/forests-now-declaration|title=The Forests NOW Declaration {{!}} Global Canopy Programme|website=globalcanopy.org|language=en|access-date=January 20, 2018|archive-date=January 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121071613/https://globalcanopy.org/projects/forests-now-declaration|url-status=dead}}</ref> Wilson once said destroying a rainforest for economic gain was like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.<ref name="the Guardian-2021">{{Cite news |date=December 27, 2021 |title=Edward O Wilson, naturalist known as a 'modern-day Darwin', dies aged 92 |language=en |work=the Guardian |agency=Reuters |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/27/edward-o-wilson-naturalist-modern-day-darwin-dies |access-date=December 28, 2021}}</ref> In 2014, Wilson called for setting aside 50% of Earth's surface for other species to thrive in as the only possible strategy to solve the extinction crisis. The idea became the basis for his book ''[[Half-Earth]]'' (2016) and for the Half-Earth Project of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.<ref name="Alberts">{{cite news |last1=Alberts |first1=Elizabeth Claire |title=In Half-Earth Project, a full-on bid to get countries to protect biodiversity |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/in-half-earth-project-a-full-on-bid-to-get-countries-to-protect-biodiversity/ |access-date=10 August 2022 |work=Mongabay Environmental News |date=6 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="Hiss">{{cite web |first=Tony |last=Hiss  |date=2014 |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-world-really-set-aside-half-planet-wildlife-180952379/?no-ist |title=Can the World Really Set Aside Half of the Planet for Wildlife? &#124; Science &#124; Smithsonian |website=Smithsonianmag.com |access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref> Wilson's influence regarding ecology through popular science was discussed by [[Alan G. Gross]] in ''The Scientific Sublime'' (2018).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gross|first=Alan G.|author-link=Alan G. Gross|chapter=E. O. Wilson: The Biophilic Sublime|date=August 2, 2018|title=The Scientific Sublime|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|doi=10.1093/oso/9780190637774.003.0017|isbn=978-0-19-063777-4}}</ref>

Wilson was instrumental in launching the [[Encyclopedia of Life]] (EOL)<ref>{{Cite web|title=E.O. Wilson founds the Encyclopedia of Life|url=https://www.ted.com/participate/ted-prize/prize-winning-wishes/encyclopedia-of-life|access-date=December 27, 2020|website=www.ted.com|language=en|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115151202/https://www.ted.com/participate/ted-prize/prize-winning-wishes/encyclopedia-of-life|url-status=dead}}</ref> initiative with the goal of creating a global database to include information on the 1.9 million [[species]] recognized by science. Currently, it includes information on practically all known species. This open and searchable digital repository for organism traits, measurements, interactions and other data has more than 300 international partners and countless scientists providing global users' access to knowledge of life on Earth. For his part, Wilson discovered and described more than 400 species of ants.<ref>{{Cite web|title=E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation » The Perfect Gift for E.O. Wilson|url=https://eowilsonfoundation.org/the-perfect-gift-for-e-o-wilson/|access-date=December 27, 2020|language=en-US|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303204240/https://eowilsonfoundation.org/the-perfect-gift-for-e-o-wilson/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Evolving into community|url=https://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2016-03/meaning-human-existence-edward-o-wilson|access-date=December 27, 2020|website=The Christian Century|language=en}}</ref>

==Retirement and death==
In 1996, Wilson officially retired from [[Harvard University]], where he continued to hold the positions of [[Emeritus|Professor Emeritus]] and Honorary Curator in Entomology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The National Medal of Science 50th Anniversary {{!}} National Science Foundation |url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/medalofscience50/wilson.jsp |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=www.nsf.gov}}</ref> 
He fully retired from Harvard in 2002 at age 73. After stepping down, he published more than a dozen books, including a digital biology textbook for the [[iPad]].<ref name="nytobit" /><ref name="Obit-Telegraph">{{cite web |author=Telegraph Obituaries |date=27 December 2021 |title=E O Wilson, biologist whose work on ants led him to great discoveries about the whole living environment – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/12/27/e-o-wilson-biologist-whose-work-ants-led-great-discoveries-whole/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 February 2022 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref>

He founded the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, which finances the [[PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award]] and is an "independent foundation" at the [[Nicholas School of the Environment]] at [[Duke University]]. Wilson became a special lecturer at Duke University as part of the agreement.<ref name="Tenure at Duke">{{cite web |date=December 2013 |title='Father of sociobiology' to teach at Nicholas School |url=http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2013/12/05/father-sociobiology-teach-nicholas-school |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725070629/http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2013/12/05/father-sociobiology-teach-nicholas-school |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |access-date=December 6, 2013 |work=Post Retirement |publisher=Duke University}}</ref>

Wilson and his wife, Irene, resided in [[Lexington, Massachusetts]].<ref name="Academy of Achievement" /> He had a daughter, Catherine.<ref name="the Guardian-2021" /> He was predeceased by his wife (on August 7, 2021) and died in nearby [[Burlington, Massachusetts|Burlington]] on December 26, 2021, at the age of 92.<ref name="nytobit" /><ref name="Obit-Telegraph" />

==Awards and honors==
[[File:EOWilsonCntr.jpg|thumb|Wilson addresses the audience at the dedication of the Biophilia Center named for him at Nokuse Plantation in Walton County, Florida.]]

Wilson's scientific and [[conservationism|conservation]] honors include:

* Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], elected 1959<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edward O. Wilson|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/edward-o-wilson|access-date=June 12, 2020|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|language=en}}</ref>
* Member of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]], elected 1969<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edward Wilson|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/49051.html|access-date=June 12, 2020|website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
* Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]], elected 1976.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Edward+O.+Wilson&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-07-25 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
* U.S. [[National Medal of Science]], 1977<ref name="contempauthors" />
* [[Leidy Award]], 1979, from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia<ref name="PANSP">{{cite journal|date=June 2007|title=The Four Awards Bestowed by The Academy of Natural Sciences and Their Recipients|journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia|publisher=The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia|volume=156|issue=1|pages=403–404|doi=10.1635/0097-3157(2007)156[403:TFABBT]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=198160356 }}</ref>
* [[Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction|Pulitzer Prize]] for ''[[On Human Nature]]'', [[1979 Pulitzer Prize|1979]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.as.ua.edu/2012/09/01/legendary-biologist-and-pulitzer-prize-winner-e-o-wilson-visits-ua-as-scholar-in-residence/|title=Legendary Biologist and Pulitzer Prize Winner E.O. Wilson Visits UA as Scholar-in-Residence – Arts & Sciences|website=www.as.ua.edu}}</ref>
* [[Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement]], 1984<ref name="contempauthors" />
* [[ECI Prize]], International Ecology Institute, terrestrial ecology, 1987<ref>{{Cite web|title=ECI Prize Laureates and Their Major Scientific Achievements |url=http://www.int-res.com/ecology-institute/eci-prize/ |publisher=Inter-Research Science Publisher |accessdate=December 28, 2021}}</ref>
* Honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science at [[Uppsala University]], Sweden, 1987<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/traditions/prizes/honorary-doctorates/|title=Honorary doctorates – Uppsala University, Sweden|website=www.uu.se|date=June 9, 2023 }}</ref>
* [[Academy of Achievement| Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award]], 1988<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=  https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>
* His books ''The Insect Societies'' and ''Sociobiology: The New Synthesis'' were honored with the Science Citation Classic award by the [[Institute for Scientific Information]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Search Author Index – Citation Classic Commentaries |url=https://garfield.library.upenn.edu/classics/classics_w.html |publisher=University of Pennsylvania}}</ref>
* [[Crafoord Prize]], 1990, a prize awarded by the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crafoordprize.se/search/sitesearch.4.2f692b3510dbfce339680003867.html?query=wilson&x=30&y=7|title=Crafoord Prize|website=www.crafoordprize.se}}</ref> 
* [[Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction|Pulitzer Prize]] for ''[[The Ants]]'' (with [[Bert Hölldobler]]), 1991<ref name=wpost/>
* [[International Prize for Biology]], 1993<ref name="contempauthors" />
* [[Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science]], 1994<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://thecssp.us/awards/carl-sagan-award?tmpl=component&print=1&page= |title=Carl Sagan Award |accessdate=December 28, 2021 |archive-date=November 12, 2014 |publisher=Council of Scientific Society Presidents|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112022557/http://thecssp.us/awards/carl-sagan-award?tmpl=component&print=1&page= }}</ref>
* The [[National Audubon Society]]'s Audubon Medal, 1995<ref name="contempauthors" />
* ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's 25 Most Influential People in America, 1995<ref name=wpost>{{cite news |title=Edward O. Wilson, Harvard naturalist often cited as heir to Darwin, dies at 92 |author=Sullivan, Patricia |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=December 27, 2021}}</ref>
* Certificate of Distinction, [[International Congresses of Entomology]], Florence, Italy 1996<ref>History of International Congresses of Entomology. In press. Editors James Ridsdill-Smith, Phyllis Weinbaum, Max Whitten and May Berenbaum.  Publisher Entomological Society of America</ref>
* [[Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences]] of the [[American Philosophical Society]], 1998.<ref name="franklinscience_recipients">{{cite web |url=http://www.amphilsoc.org/prizes/franklinscience |title=Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences Recipients |publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]] |access-date=November 27, 2011}}</ref>
* [[American Humanist Association]]'s 1999 Humanist of the Year<ref name=wpost/>
* [[Lewis Thomas Prize]] for Writing about Science, 2000<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lewis Thomas Prize Recipients |url=https://www.rockefeller.edu/lewis-thomas-prize/recipients/ |publisher=[[The Rockefeller University]] |accessdate=December 28, 2021}}</ref>
* [[Nierenberg Prize]], 2001<ref name="contempauthors" />
* [[Distinguished Eagle Scout Award]] 2004<ref>{{Cite web |last=Council |first=Montana |date=2019-01-29 |title=In Focus: 6 Notable Eagle Scouts |url=https://montanabsa.org/in-focus-6-notable-eagle-scouts/ |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=Montana Council |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Dauphin Island Sea Lab]] christened one of its research vessel the ''R/V E.O. Wilson''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.disl.org/about/research-vessels|publisher=[[Dauphin Island Sea Lab]]|title=Research Vessels|accessdate=December 28, 2021|archive-date=December 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228114250/https://www.disl.org/about/research-vessels|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Linnean Tercentenary Medal#Silver Medal|Linnean Tercentenary Silver Medal]], 2006<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Linnean Tercentenary Medal |publisher=[[The Linnean Society]] |url=https://www.linnean.org/the-society/medals-awards-prizes-grants/the-linnean-tercentenary-medal |accessdate=December 28, 2021}}</ref>
* [[Addison Emery Verrill Medal]] from the [[Peabody Museum of Natural History]], 2007<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 17, 2007|title=Yale honors E. O. Wilson with Verrill Medal|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/10/yale-honors-e-o-wilson-with-verrill-medal/|access-date=December 27, 2021|website=[[The Harvard Gazette]]|language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[TED Prize|TED Prize 2007]]<ref>[http://www.ted.com/tedprize/winners2007.cfm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111154927/http://www.ted.com/tedprize/winners2007.cfm|date=November 11, 2006}}</ref> 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 [[Catalonia International Prize|Premi Internacional Catalunya]] 2007<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://presidencia.gencat.cat/en/ambits_d_actuacio/premis/premi-internacional-catalunya/guardons-anteriors/index.html|title=Previous winners|website=Ministry of the Presidency|access-date=January 29, 2020|archive-date=November 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127182917/https://presidencia.gencat.cat/en/ambits_d_actuacio/premis/premi-internacional-catalunya/guardons-anteriors/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eowilsoncenter.org/ |title=biophilia-center |website=Eowilsoncenter.org |access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref> on [[Nokuse Plantation]] in Walton County, Florida 2009 video<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vimeo.com/8678440 |title=E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center |work=Vimeo}}</ref>
* [[The Explorers Club]] Medal, 2009<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.explorers.org/awards/ |title=The Explorers Medal |publisher=[[The Explorers Club]] |accessdate=December 28, 2021}}</ref>
* [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award|2010 BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] in the Ecology and Conservation Biology Category<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/tlfu/ing/microsites/premios/fronteras/index.jsp |title=BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards |work=fbbva.es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305032320/http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/tlfu/ing/microsites/premios/fronteras/index.jsp |archive-date=March 5, 2016 }}</ref>
* [[Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture]], 2010<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson-foundation/thomas-jefferson-foundation-medals/architecture-medal-recipients/ |title=Recipients of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture |publisher=[[Thomas Jefferson Foundation]]|accessdate=December 28, 2021}}</ref>
* 2010 [[Heartland Prize]] for fiction for his first novel ''[[Anthill: A Novel]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagohumanities.org/Genres/Literature/2010-Chicago-Tribune-Heartland-Prize-Winners.aspx |title=Chicago Humanities Festival |work=chicagohumanities.org |access-date=February 4, 2011 |archive-date=November 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105041021/http://chicagohumanities.org/genres/literature/2010-chicago-tribune-heartland-prize-winners.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[EarthSky]] Science Communicator of the Year, 2010<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://earthsky.org/press/e-o-wilson-is-the-2010-earthsky-science-communicator-of-the-year/ |title=EarthSky Global Science Advisors select E.O. Wilson as 2010 Science Communicator of the Year |publisher=[[EarthSky]]|accessdate=December 28, 2021 |date=January 11, 2011}}</ref>
* [[International Cosmos Prize]], 2012<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.expo-cosmos.or.jp/english/cosmos/jyusyou/2012.html|title=The Prizewinner 2012|publisher= Expo '90 Foundation|access-date=September 18, 2019}}</ref>
* Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, 2012<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESA Fellows |url=https://esa.org/about/awards/fellows-program/esa-fellows/ |access-date=2025-08-13 |website=Ecological Society of America}}</ref>
* [[Kew International Medal]] (2014)<ref name=seb/>
* Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from the [[American Museum of Natural History]] (2014)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/news-posts/museum-celebrates-second-commencement-ceremony |title=Museum Celebrates Second Commencement Ceremony |website=American Museum of Natural History |date=October 28, 2014}}</ref>
* 2016 [[Harper Lee Award]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation » Harper Lee Award |url=https://eowilsonfoundation.org/tag/harper-lee-award/ |access-date=June 25, 2021 |language=en-US |archive-date=June 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625085034/https://eowilsonfoundation.org/tag/harper-lee-award/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Whitley |first1=Carla Jean |title=E.O. Wilson, biologist and author, to receive Harper Lee Award |url=https://www.al.com/entertainment/2015/12/eo_wilson_biologist_and_author.html |publisher=AL.com |date=December 10, 2015}}</ref>
* Commemoration in the species' epithet of ''[[Myrmoderus eowilsoni]]'' (2018)<ref name=moncrieff>{{ cite journal | last1=Moncrieff | first1=A.E. | last2=Johnson | first2=O. | last3=Lane | first3=D.F. | last4=Beck | first4=J.R. | last5=Angulo | first5=F. | last6= Fagan | first6=J. | year=2018 | title=A new species of antbird (Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae) from the Cordillera Azul, San Martin, Peru | journal=Auk | volume=135 | issue=1 | pages=114–126 | doi=10.1642/AUK-17-97.1 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
* Commemoration in the species' epithet of ''[[Miniopterus wilsoni]]'' (2020)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nhacote|first=Luis|date=August 2020|title=Moz24h {{!}} Moz24Horas {{!}} Moçambique|url=https://www.moz24h.co.mz/post/descoberta-nova-esp%C3%A9cie-de-morcego-no-parque-nacional-da-gorongosa|access-date=August 19, 2020|website=Moz24h {{!}} Moz24Horas {{!}} Moçambique|language=pt|archive-date=December 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228122427/https://www.moz24h.co.mz/post/descoberta-nova-esp%C3%A9cie-de-morcego-no-parque-nacional-da-gorongosa|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Busk Medal]] by the [[Royal Geographical Society]] in 2002.<ref name="RGS-IBG">{{cite journal |title=Medals and Awards |url=https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/QSDT4 |website=OSF |date=2022 |publisher=RGS-IBG |doi=10.17605/OSF.IO/QSDT4 |access-date=9 December 2024 |author1=RGS-IBG }}</ref>

==Main works==
<!--Please sort chronologically-->
* {{cite journal |title=Character displacement |journal=Systematic Zoology |date=1956 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=49–64 |jstor=2411924 |doi=10.2307/2411924|last1=Brown |first1=W. L. |last2=Wilson |first2=E. O. }}, coauthored with William Brown Jr.; paper honored in 1986 as a Science Citation Classic, i.e., as one of the most frequently cited scientific papers of all time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ripley.si.edu/ent/nmnhtypedb/wlb/WLB_Library_Obit.htm |title=William L Brown, Jr. Obituary |publisher=Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History |access-date=October 22, 2014 |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725063703/http://ripley.si.edu/ent/nmnhtypedb/wlb/WLB_Library_Obit.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* ''[[The Theory of Island Biogeography]]'', 1967, Princeton University Press (2001 reprint), {{ISBN|0-691-08836-5}}, with [[Robert MacArthur|Robert H. MacArthur]]
* ''The Insect Societies'', 1971, [[Harvard University Press]], {{ISBN|0-674-45490-1}}
* ''[[Sociobiology: The New Synthesis]]'' 1975, Harvard University Press, (Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition, 2000 {{ISBN|0-674-00089-7}})
* ''[[On Human Nature]]'', 1979, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|0-674-01638-6}}, winner of the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
* ''Genes, Mind and Culture: The Coevolutionary Process'', 1981, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|0-674-34475-8}}
* ''Promethean Fire: Reflections on the Origin of Mind'', 1983, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|0-674-71445-8}}
* ''Biophilia'', 1984, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|0-674-07441-6}}
* ''Success and Dominance in Ecosystems: The Case of the Social Insects'', 1990, Inter-Research, {{ISSN|0932-2205}}
* ''[[The Ants]]'', 1990, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|0-674-04075-9}}, Winner of the 1991 [[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}}
* ''[[Biophilia hypothesis|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 (book)|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
* ''[[Consilience (book)|Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge]]'', 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}}
* ''The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth'', September 2006, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-393-06217-5}}
* ''Nature Revealed: Selected Writings 1949–2006'', {{ISBN|0-8018-8329-6}}
* ''The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies'', 2009, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-393-06704-0}}, with Bert Hölldobler
* ''[[Anthill: A Novel]]'', April 2010, 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, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, with José María Gómez Durán {{ISBN|0-8018-9785-8}}
* ''The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct'', 2011, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-393-33868-3}}, with Bert Hölldobler
* ''[[The Social Conquest of Earth]]'', 2012, Liveright Publishing Corporation, New York, {{ISBN|0-87140-363-3}}
* ''[[Letters to a Young Scientist]]'', 2014, Liveright, {{ISBN|0-87140-385-4}}
* ''A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park'', 2014, Simon & Schuster, {{ISBN|1-4767-4741-5}}
* ''The Meaning of Human Existence'', 2014, Liveright, {{ISBN|0-87140-100-2}}
* ''[[Half-Earth]]'', 2016, Liveright, {{ISBN|978-1-63149-082-8}}
* ''The Origins of Creativity'', 2017, Liveright, {{ISBN|978-1-63149-318-8}}
* ''Genesis: The Deep Origin of Societies'', 2019, Liveright; {{ISBN|1-63149-554-2|}}
* ''Tales from the Ant World'', 2020, Liveright, {{ISBN|978-1-63149-556-4|}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilson, Edward O.|title=Tales from the ant world|year=2020|isbn=978-1-63149-556-4|edition= First|location=New York, N.Y.|oclc=1120085214}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2020/11/15/Edward-O-Wilson-Tales-from-the-Ant-World-review/stories/202011150005 |title='Tales from the Ant World' is a fascinating journey |website=post-gazette.com |date=November 16, 2020 |access-date=November 26, 2020}}</ref> 
* ''Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation'' November 10, 2020, [[Island Press]]; {{ISBN|978-1-61091-958-6|}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation |isbn=978-1-61091-958-6 |last1=Wilson |first1=Edward O. |last2=Ottaviani |first2=Jim |date=November 10, 2020 |publisher=Island Press }}</ref>

===Edited works===
* ''From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books'', edited with introductions by Edward O. Wilson (2005, [[W. W. Norton]]) {{ISBN|0-393-06134-5}}

==References==
 {{notelist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources <!-- Work in Progress --> ===

==== Books ====

* {{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=E. O. |url=https://archive.org/details/naturalist00wils_0 |title=Naturalist |publisher=[[Warner Books]] |year=1995 |isbn=1-59726-088-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rhodes |first=Richard |title=E. O. Wilson: A Life in Nature |publisher=Knopf Doubleday |year=2021 |isbn=9780385545563 |author-link=Richard Rhodes}}

==== Journals ====
* {{Cite journal |last=Hölldobler |first=Bert |author-link=Bert Hölldobler |date=January 21, 2022 |title=Edward Osborne Wilson, Naturalist (1929–2021) |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=119 |issue=5|article-number=e2200201119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2200201119 |doi-access=free |pmid=35064007 |pmc=8812546 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11900201H }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Simberloff |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Simberloff |date=November 2022 |title=Edward O. Wilson (1929–2021): It All Started with Ants |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/721257 |journal=[[The American Naturalist]] |volume=200 |issue=5 |pages=621–737|doi=10.1086/721257 |pmid=36260849 |s2cid=252995823 |url-access=subscription }}

==== Newspapers ====

* {{Cite news |last=Rothstein |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Rothstein |date=May 2, 1998 |title=Now a Warm Welcome Instead of a Cold Bath |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/02/arts/now-a-warm-welcome-instead-of-a-cold-bath.html |access-date=January 31, 2023}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|E. O. Wilson}}
* [https://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/mcz/files/eowilson_cv_25_aprili_2018.pdf Curriculum vitae]
* [http://eowilsonfoundation.org/ E.O. Wilson Foundation]
* {{cite journal|last=Dawkins |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dawkins |title=The Descent of Edward Wilson |journal=[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]] |date=May 24, 2012 |url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/edward-wilson-social-conquest-earth-evolutionary-errors-origin-species/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019145203/http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/edward-wilson-social-conquest-earth-evolutionary-errors-origin-species/ |archive-date=October 19, 2012 }} Review of ''[[The Social Conquest of Earth]]''
* {{C-SPAN|55185}}
* {{TED speaker}}
* [https://www.eowilsoncenter.org E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname= E. O. Wilson}}
* {{cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/105484333 | title=DISCOVER MAGAZINE (TV series): ''Ants, With E.O. Wilson.''| date=September 7, 2014}}

{{Ethology}}
{{Eusociality}}
{{Evolutionary psychologists}}
{{FRS 1990}}
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|biological}}
{{PulitzerPrize GeneralNon-Fiction 1976–2000}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, E. O.}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American zoologists]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American zoologists]]
[[Category:American autobiographers]]
[[Category:American conservationists]]
[[Category:American deists]]
[[Category:American ecologists]]
[[Category:American entomologists]]
[[Category:American humanists]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American naturalists]]
[[Category:American non-fiction environmental writers]]
[[Category:American science writers]]
[[Category:American skeptics]]
[[Category:Biogeographers]]
[[Category:American critics of religions]]
[[Category:Entomological writers]]
[[Category:American ethologists]]
[[Category:American evolutionary biologists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Ecological Society of America]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:Human evolution theorists]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Myrmecologists]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:Neutral theory]]
[[Category:Novelists from Alabama]]
[[Category:Novelists from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American philosophers of social science]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction winners]]
[[Category:People involved in race and intelligence controversies]]
[[Category:Secular humanists]]
[[Category:Sociobiologists]]
[[Category:American sustainability advocates]]
[[Category:University of Alabama alumni]]
[[Category:Writers about activism and social change]]
[[Category:Writers about religion and science]]
[[Category:Writers from Birmingham, Alabama]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]