Edward O. Wilson was born in
Alabama in 1929. Through Boy Scouts and reading plenty of National Geographic magazines, he gained a strong appreciation and
interest for bugs, specifically butterflies and ants, at a young age. Soon, his
dream was to become an entomologist. After receiving some public school
education, with the help of professor Jack Sharp and acquaintances in the
biology department at Harvard University, Wilson applied to and was accepted
the Harvard. With his acceptance into the Junior Fellows, he had the desire to
study ants in tropical rain forests. After a year of wandering in places like
New Guinea, Mexico and Cuba, Wilson was on his was to achieving his goal.
Along
with his colleague, Robert MacArthur, he developed the theory of island
biogeography. This theory hooked ecology with conservation biology. Another
theory was developed with Wilson’s other colleague, Bill Bossert. This theory
discussed the rate and extent to which pheromones spread. Writing has always
been one of Wilson’s passions, and he writes everyday. He wrote a book called, Sociology. After his book’s discoveries,
there was a controversial response. The critics, professors, and other
audiences did not appreciate Wilson calling the brain a blank slate. Wilson
believes the most exciting part about his field is how much knowledge is left
to discover. He loves working at Harvard, and would never leave. His advice to
young readers is to, “search until you find a passion and go all out to excel
in its expression” (Wilson).
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