Edward O. Wilson, a two-time Pultizer Prize winner and one of the world’s most respected scientists, will discuss the current status of the world’s biodiversity during the Voices of Discovery lecture at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 16 in McCrary Theatre, located in the Center for the Arts on the Elon University campus. His presentation is free and open to the public.
Wilson is a pioneer in the field of sociobiology and a government advisor on preservation legislation. He has been hailed as “the new Darwin” by Thomas Wolfe and one of “America’s 25 Most Influential People” by Time magazine. He is professor of biology and honorary curator in entomology at Harvard University.
A champion of conservation, he brought the term “biological diversity” into the mainstream lexicon. He described the web of life and the threats to biological diversity in his 1992 book, “The Diversity of Life.” In his most recent book, “The Diversity of Life,” Wilson makes a plea for conservation of the world’s biodiversity.
Wilson earned a doctorate in biology from Harvard and became the world’s expert on ants, traveling the tropics to study the insects. He shared a Pulitzer Prize in 1991 with Dr. B. Holldobler for “The Ants,” which summarizes everything known about the species.
He proposed the highly controversial concept of sociobiology, suggesting that there is a biological basis for social behavior in animals, including humans. In 1975, he published “Sociobiology: The New Synthesis,” and received his first Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for a related book, “On Human Nature.”
The Voices of Discovery science speaker series, sponsored by Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, invites noted scholars in science and mathematics to Elon to share their knowledge and experience with students.
The event is free and open to the public.
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