Edward O. Wilson: I Was Trying to Find Every Kind of Ant

Abstract

Edward O. Wilson was born 10 June 1929 in Birmingham, Alabama. He is generally recognized as one of the leading biologists in the world, and is acknowledged as the creator of two scientific disciplines (island biogeography and sociobiology), three unifying concepts for science and the humanities jointly (biophilia, biodiversity studies, and consilience), and one major technological advance in the study of global biodiversity (Encyclopedia of Life). From an early age, he was interested in natural history, especially insects and reptiles. He partly blinded himself while fishing, when the dorsal fin of a fish cut his right eye, which later required surgery. His stereoscopy was lost, along with a diminished capacity to observe wildlife, but his left eye vision was 20/10 and this allowed him to see minute details on insects, which then became his passion. He served as nature counselor at a Boy Scout camp in Alabama and advanced to the rank of Eagle Scout. Wilson earned B.S. (1949, Biology) and M.S. (1950, Biology) degrees from the University of Alabama, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University (1955, Biology). Among more than one hundred awards Wilson has received worldwide are the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (equivalent of the Nobel for ecology), the International Prize of Biology and Cosmos Prize of Japan, the National Geographic Hubbard Medal, and two Pulitzer Prizes in nonfiction. Wilson is a Founders’ Memorial Award recipient and Fellow of the Entomological Society of America. He is currently Honorary Curator in Entomology and University Research Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of London, and the Academy of Natural Science of Russia. I first met Wilson in 1996 when he gave a lecture at Iowa State University. Written questions were provided prior to the interview, which occurred by telephone. Pauses in his response are noted with an ellipsis (...) and retained for effect. This interview occurred 4 October 2013; Wilson was 84 years old. Rice: Dr. Wilson, thanks for the opportunity to conduct this interview. Wilson: You are welcome and please, call me Ed. I will try to be, or how shall I say... parsimonious...and not wander. But you just cover so much territory in the questions you sent that it is not easy for me to remain on the point.