He was the international expert on ants.
The great American scientist Edward Osborne Wilson, who was nicknamed "Darwin's heir", has died at the age of 92, the foundation that bears his name has announced.
EO Wilson, who taught at Harvard University for a long time, has written dozens of books, two of which have won him Pulitzer Prizes: the first in 1978 for "The Human Nature", the second in 1990 for "The Ants".
We are deeply saddened to share the passing of EO Wilson, preeminent scientist, naturalist, author of #halfearth at 92. "His gift was a deep belief in people and our shared human resolve to save the natural world" - Paula Ehrlichhttps: // t.co/suAoRUPil6#eowilson#extinction
- EOWilson Foundation (@EOWilsonFndtn) December 27, 2021
The scientist, who died in Massachusetts on Sunday, "dedicated his life to studying the natural world and inspiring others to care for it the way he did," the foundation said.
Time magazine described him as having had "one of the great careers of 20th century science" by highlighting his work of mapping the social behavior of ants, through which he showed that their colonies communicated via a system of. pheromones.
The death of a "great scientist"
Edward Osborne Wilson, considered the founding father of sociobiology, also sparked criticism after suggesting in one of his books that humans behave largely according to principles written in their genes.
Scientist Steven Pinker lamented the death of a "great scientist" on Monday.
“We disagreed on some things, but that didn't affect his generosity and his willingness to chat,” he tweeted.
Sad indeed.
A great scientist and a lovely man (I'm still grateful for a letter of encouragement he wrote to me early in my career, before we were colleagues).
We disagreed about some things, but it didn't affect his generosity and willingness to engage.
https://t.co/3ppqTwhHUf
- Steven Pinker (@sapinker) December 27, 2021
