If any modern scientist can claim to have carried the torch lit by Charles Darwin, it was Edward Osborne Wilson — usually known as “E.O.”
Wilson pioneered the study of biological diversity, adding a theoretical dimension to nature conservation — which had previously seemed more like a moral crusade than a scientific endeavor.
He popularized the term “sociobiology,” exploring evolutionary explanations of social behavior. And he turned it all into lucid prose, becoming one of the most effective science communicators of his time.
Wilson died on Sunday in Burlington, Massachusetts, according to a statement from the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.
Like Darwin, Wilson stirred up a hornet’s nest with his evolutionary theories. But in Wilson’s case, the most violent attacks against him came not from religious opponents, but from fellow scientists.
After the publication of his 1975 book Sociobiology, Wilson was pilloried by the biologists Richard Lewontin and Stephen Jay Gould, who accused him of justifying eugenics, sexism, and rampant capitalism. But Wilson gave as good as he got, and emerged from the battle with his reputation intact.
