BOSTON — Edward O. Wilson, the pioneering Harvard biologist who argued for a new vision of human nature in \u201cSociobiology\u201d and warned against the decline of ecosystems, has died. He was 92.<\/p>\n
Wilson died on Dec. 26 in Burlington, Massachusetts, according to an announcement posted Monday on the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be hard to understate Ed\u2019s scientific achievements, but his impact extends to every facet of society. He was a true visionary with a unique ability to inspire and galvanize. He articulated, perhaps better than anyone, what it means to be human,\u201d David J. Prend, chairman of the board of E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author first gained widespread attention for his 1975 book, \u201cSociobiology: The New Synthesis,\u201d in which he spelled out the evidence suggesting a link between human behavior and genetics. The work created a storm of controversy among activists and fellow academics who equated sociobiology\u2019s groundbreaking theories with sexism, racism and Nazism.<\/p>\n
More recently, Wilson has championed the importance of preserving diverse species and ecosystems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe diversity of life on Earth is far greater than even most biologists recognize,\u201d he said in 1993.<\/p>\n
Less than 10% of the Earth\u2019s species have scientific names, he said, making it \u201ca still mostly unexplored planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1979, \u201cOn Human Nature\u201d — the third volume in a series including \u201cThe Insect Societies\u201d and \u201cSociobiology\u201d \u2014 earned Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize. His second Pulitzer came in 1991 with \u201cThe Ants,\u201d which Wilson co-wrote with Harvard colleague Bert Holldobler.<\/p>\n
Among his other honors was the 1990 Crafoord Prize in biosciences from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the highest scientific award in the field. Time magazine named him one of America\u2019s 25 most influential people in 1996.<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s sociobiology theories transformed the field of biology and reignited the nature vs. nurture debate among scientists. Based on data about many species, Wilson argued that social behaviors from warfare to altruism had a genetic basis, an idea that contradicted the prevailing view that cultural and environmental factors determined human behavior.<\/p>\n
Critics argued that such a theory bolstered social injustice, including discrimination against women, by saying that the inequality is written in human genes. Fifteen Boston-area scholars joined in a letter denouncing it, and in one case protesters dumped a pitcher of ice water on Wilson\u2019s head while he was speaking at a scientific meeting in 1978.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t think genes determine all human behavior, but \u201cin rough terms \u2026 maybe 10 percent\u201d of it.<\/p>\n
He said later that the intensity of the reaction frightened him and for a time he gave up giving public lectures.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought my career was going up in flames,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His 2006 book, \u201cThe Creation,\u201d argued that the fields of science and religion, \u201cthe most powerful social forces on Earth,\u201d should work together for protection of nature.<\/p>\n
The following year, he joined with more than two dozen other leaders in religion and science in signing a statement calling for urgent changes in values, lifestyles and public policies to avert disastrous climate change. Among the religious leaders taking part were the Rev. Rich Cizik, public policy director for the National Association of Evangelicals.<\/p>\n
The launching point for Wilson\u2019s studies was a creature that had fascinated him since his teens — the ant.<\/p>\n
Showing an Associated Press reporter a dramatic microscopic view of an ant specimen in 1993, he commented, \u201cI call it looking in the face of creation. You\u2019re looking at something that may be a million years old, and nobody\u2019s seen it before.\u201d<\/p>\n
His and Holldobler\u2019s book \u201cThe Ants\u201d featured detailed photographs of ants crawling through their daily lives, copulating, regurgitating food, and stinging to death other insects. It meticulously detailed the ants\u2019 every move.<\/p>\n
He noted that the study of ants offered insights into the state of the environment, because the welfare and diversity of ant populations might be useful as an indicator of subtle destructive changes in a seemingly normal area.<\/p>\n
Wilson was born in 1929 in Birmingham, Alabama. As an only child whose parents divorced when he was 7, Wilson found comfort in nature, which he called his \u201ccompanion of choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also had to deal with the loss of sight in one eye in a fishing accident and, in his teens, a partial hearing loss.<\/p>\n
The Boy Scouts provided Wilson an opportunity to further his enthusiasm for nature, and by the age of 15, Wilson had risen to the rank of Eagle Scout.<\/p>\n
He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1949. He received his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard in 1955 and became an assistant professor there in 1956. Wilson\u2019s field research included stops in Australia, New Guinea and Sri Lanka, in addition to his ongoing work at home.<\/p>\n
He sat on the boards of directors of several environmental organizations, including The Nature Conservancy. He was honored for his conservation efforts with the Gold Medal of the Worldwide Fund for Nature in 1990 and the Audubon Medal of the National Audubon Society in 1995.<\/p>\n
Wilson is survived by his daughter, Catherine. He was predeceased by his wife, Irene.<\/p>\n