Edward Osborne Wilson, 92
At a meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 2, 2023, the following tribute to the life and service of the late Edward Osborne Wilson was spread upon the permanent records of the Faculty. Edward Osborne Wilson was a passionate and supremely expert myrmecologist. His impact as one of the most influential biologists of his generation, however, extended far beyond ants, and his contributions transcended science. Through his prolific popular writing, he inspired legions of readers to follow careers in science and to become engaged in the struggle to understand and promote biodiversity. Wilson’s early enthusiasm for the natural world was transformed at the age of seven by a fishing accident that blinded him in one eye. The lack of stereo vision steered him towards the microscope, where he specialized in what he memorably called “the little things that run the world,” ants. In his 1994 memoir, “Naturalist,” he...