E.O. Wilson with Dynastes hercules

E. O. Wilson, or Edward Osborne Wilson, (born June 10, 1929) is an entomologist and biologist known for his work on ecology, evolution, and sociobiology. Wilson's specialty is ants, in particular their use of pheromones for communication. He is also famous for starting the sociobiology debate when he wrote Sociobiology: The New Synthesis in 1975 and for coining the term biodiversity. Description: Woodrow Wilson Credit: Library of Congress [1] Usage: File links The following pages link to this file: President of the United States Woodrow Wilson List of Presidents of the United States Franco-American relations User:LockeShocke/Why did Socialism fail in early 20th century America Socialism in the United... Binomial name Dynastes hercules Linnaeus, 1758 The hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) is by far the most famous of the rhinoceros beetles. ... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Entomology is the scientific study of insects. ... A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of organisms. ... Ecology is sometimes used as an incorrect synonym for the natural environment. ... Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution by natural selection. ... Sociobiology is a synthesis of scientific disciplines that attempts to explain behavior in all species by considering the evolutionary advantages of social behaviors. ... Subfamilies Formicomorph subfamilies Aneuretinae Dolichoderinae Formicinae - e. ... Fanning honeybee exposes Nasonov gland (white-at tip of abdomen) releasing pheromone to entice swarm into an empty hive A pheromone is any chemical produced by a living organism that transmits a message to other members of the same species. ... Communication is the process of exchanging information usually via a common system of symbols. ... Sociobiology: The New Synthesis was a 1975 book by E. O. Wilson. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of and in living nature. ...

He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, attained the rank of Eagle Scout, and graduated from the University of Alabama and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Birmingham is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Jefferson County. ... Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable by a Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). ... University of Alabama The University of Alabama (also known as Alabama, UA, or colloquially as Bama) is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ...

Wilson has argued that the preservation of the gene, rather than the individual, is the focus of evolution (a theme explored in more detail by Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene). Wilson has also studied the mass extinctions of the 20th century and their relationship to modern society. This stylistic schematic diagram shows a gene in relation to the double helix structure of DNA and to a chromosome (right). ... Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution by natural selection. ... Dawkins is the holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. ... The Selfish Gene is a controversial book by Richard Dawkins published in 1976. ... An extinction event (also extinction-level event, ELE) is a period in time when a large number of species die out. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Wilson explains:

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. 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. A dense growth of softwoods (a forest) in the Sierra Nevada Range of Northern California A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, an area set aside for hunting). ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. ... Orders Many - see section below. ... This article is about the general definition of canopy. For the investment firm, see Canopy Group. ... In biology, a species is, loosely speaking, a group of related organisms that share a more or less distinctive form and are capable of interbreeding. ...

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 fungi, microorganisms, and many of the insects. In ecology, an ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms—also referred to as a biotic community or biocoenosis) living together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a unit of sorts. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ... A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). ... A database query syntax error has occurred. ...

and adds:

Let us get rid immediately of the notion that all you have to do is keep a little patch of the old growth somewhere, and then you can do whatever you want with the rest. That is a very dangerous and false notion. Old growth forest, sometimes called late seral forest or ancient forest is an area of forest that has attained great age and exhibits unique biological features. ...

Wilson inadvertently created one of the greatest scientific controversies of the late 20th century when he came up with the idea of sociobiology. Sociobiology suggests that animal, and by extension human, behaviour can be studied using an evolutionary framework. Some critics accused Wilson of racism, and he was even physically attacked for his views. However, Wilson did not intend to apply a 'survival of the fittest' model on human society as had been true of so-called social Darwinists. His theory was scientific, not ethical — a distinction that many of his detractors failed to make. The controversy caused a great deal of personal grief for Wilson; some of his colleagues at Harvard, such as Richard Lewontin and the late Stephen Jay Gould, were vehemently opposed to his ideas. An African-American drinks out of a water cooler designated for use by colored patrons in 1939 at a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City. ... Social Darwinism is a social theory which holds that Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection is not only a model for the development of biological traits in a population, but can also be applied to human social institutions. ... Richard Charles Lewontin (born March 29, 1929) is an evolutionary biologist, geneticist, and social commentator at Harvard University. ... Stephen Jay Gould Stephen Jay Gould (September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was a New York-born American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. ...

A fruitful result of these controversies has been his work "Genes, Mind and Culture: The coevolutionary process" (1981) coauthored with Charles Lumsden. This very mathematical work has been popularized in "Promethean fire: reflections on the origin of mind" (1983). The paradigm of coevolutionary process stands at the forefront of modern science and anthropology.

Wilson has received many awards for his works, most notably National Medal of Science, Crafoord Prize, Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, Nierenberg Prize, and twice the Pulitzer Prize (category non fiction). National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science, also called the Presidential Medal of Science, is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social... The Crafoord Prize was established by Holger Crafoord, the inventor of the artificial kidney and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord in 1980. ... The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is an award for environmental science, energy, and medicine. ... The Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest is given annually by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-04-13, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction has been awarded since 1962 for a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category. ...

Had people taken the alert signals seriously, as intelligent people must, this 1992 book [The Diversity of Life] would have set the basis for a new level of discussions on the environment and the current ongoing worldwide biotic holocaust exterminating species at the rate of one every 20 minutes. People might be working on solutions by now instead of still wallowing in ignorance. The facts are clearly and well laid out. The evidence is presented, the theories and data explained at length, at a reasonable cost in paperback (or free from the public lending library). Eight years later people are still presenting in public flawed paradigms (perhaps deliberately) to excuse their gluttonous behaviour which is crushing the planetary life-support systems.

– E. O. Wilson 2000

Trivia

Wilson was incorrectly listed as dead in a 2005 San Francisco Chronicle article. Various notable people have had their death announced in error. ... The San Francisco Chronicle, the self-described Voice of the West, is Northern Californias largest newspaper. ...

Main works

• The Theory of Island Biogeography, 1967, Princeton University Press (2001 reprint), ISBN 0691088365 - with Robert H. MacArthur
• Insect Societies, 1971, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0674454901
• Sociobiology: The New Synthesis 1975, Belknap Press, ISBN 0674816218
  • Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition, 2000, Belknap Press, ISBN 0674000897
• On Human Nature, 1978, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0674634411 - Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
• 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 0674074416
• The Ants, 1990, Belknap Press, ISBN 0674040759 - Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, with Bert Hölldobler
• The Diversity of Life, 1992, Belknap Press, ISBN 0674212983
• The Biophilia Hypothesis, 1993, Shearwater Books, ISBN 1559631481 - with Stephen R. Kellert
• Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration, 1994, Belknap Press, ISBN 0674485254 - with Bert Hölldobler
• Naturalist, 1994, Shearwater Books, ISBN 1559632887
• In Search of Nature, 1996, Shearwater Books, ISBN 1559632151 - with Laura Simonds Southworth
• Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, 1998, Knopf, ISBN 0679450777
• The Future of Life, 2002, Knopf, ISBN 0679450785
• Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Ant Genus, 2003, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0674002938

1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Sociobiology: The New Synthesis was a 1975 book by E. O. Wilson. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-04-13, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Biophilia is the love (philia) of Nature (bio). ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ants is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, written in 1991, by Edward O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-04-13, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Bert Hölldobler (born 1936) is a German myrmecologist who is a co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his work on The Ants (1991) with Edward O. Wilson. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Journey to the Ants: a Story of Scientific Exploration is a book first published in 1994, written by Edward O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge is a 1998 book by biologist E. O. Wilson. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Sociobiology
• Westermarck effect
• Green economics
• Evolutionary psychology
• Naturalist Magazine
• Bertrand Russell
• Gerard Holton
• Richard Machalek
• Terence Monmaney
• Stephen R. Kellert
• Laura Simonds Southworth
• Tom Petrie
• Barry Lopez
• Charles J. Lumsden
• Bert Hölldobler
• Marjorie L. Reaka-Kudla

Sociobiology is a synthesis of scientific disciplines that attempts to explain behavior in all species by considering the evolutionary advantages of social behaviors. ... This article is about the psychological term. ... Green economics loosely defines a theory of economics by which an economy is considered to be component of the ecosystem in which it resides. ... Evolutionary psychology (or EP) proposes that human and primate cognition and behavior could be better understood by examining them in light of human and primate evolutionary history. ... Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM (18 May 1872–2 February 1970) was an influential British mathematician, philosopher, and logician, working mostly in the 20th century. ... Richard Machalek (born April 12, 1946) is a social theorist, sociobiologist, and professor of sociology. ... Laura Simonds Southworth is a book illustrator. ... Barry Holstun Lopez (born January 6, 1945) is an American author. ... Bert Hölldobler (born 1936) is a German myrmecologist who is a co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his work on The Ants (1991) with Edward O. Wilson. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about:

Edward Osborne Wilson

• "On the Relation of Science and Humanities", Harvard@Home lecture.
• "Living in Shimmering Disequilibrium", interview with Salon.
• Essay on "Science and Idealogy"