By now you may have heard that over the past 2 days, the world has lost 2 men each of whom were luminaries in their fields: Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Edward O. Wilson. When it rains it pours. The world is diminished by the passing of each, yet immensely enriched by what each gave during their long lives. Each lived 90 or more years. As an evolutionary biologist, sociobiologist, and advocate for conserving all forms of life, Wilson is someone I’ve admired throughout my career. Maybe the title he preferred most is “Naturalist,” which he titled one of his earliest books. During the past century, few have done more than Wilson to promote our understanding of nature and the functioning of ecosystems. Wilson was brilliant, controversial, humble in the face of nature, yet at times arrogant in the positions he developed and advocated over his highly productive life. This video interview provides glimpses of these facets of the scientist and man.
E.O. Wilson: always thought-provoking and pioneering. I own most of his books and any number of them are worth adding to your reading list.
Comments