Home > Plants and Animals > Zoology and Veterinary Medicine > Zoology: Biographies

Topic:Edward Osborne Wilson

Visit our new topic page about Edward Osborne Wilson

Edward Osborne Wilson

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

Edward Osborne Wilson 1929-, American sociobiologist, b. Birmingham, Ala. Founder of sociobiology , Wilson argued in his controversial Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975) that all human behavior, including altruism , is genetically based, and therefore "selfish." He later called for careful study of "gene-cultural co-evolution." Critics have called sociobiology a dangerously reductive determinism that could be used to defend notions of racial superiority and eugenics ; others have defended Wilson's evidence and biological reasoning. Wilson's On Human Nature (1978) won the Pulitzer Prize; Biophilia (1984) suggests that human attraction to other living things is innate; Consilience (1998) urges wider integration of the sciences; and The Creation (2006) pleads for a unified effort by secular and religious thinkers to save the earth's biodiversity. Other books by Wilson are Insect Societies (1971), The Diversity of Life (1992), The Ants, with Bert Hölldobler (1990; Pulitzer Prize), and The Future of Life (2002).

Bibliography: See his autobiography (1994).

Author not available, WILSON, EDWARD OSBORNE., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research

	Edward Alba Albao \| Edgar Burnell Bolstad \| Frances Lorraine French \| Caroleen R. Garcia \| John P. Hernandez \| Allen H. Karner \| Salvacion "Salve" Kenneday \| Shirley Ann Mattera \| Reynouw G. Nunnink \| William Charles Osborne \| Earl R. Russell \| Maria A. Smith \| Willard D. Specht \| Joyce Stewart \| C. Ann Winyard \| George Zaremba Daily Breeze; 9/9/2003; GNERRE; 2269 words ; \STLnobit1\STLdnot Albao, Edward Alba Born March 30, 1920 in Hawaii and after retiring from ... survived by a Son, Roy E. Kennedy Jr. and Daughters, Sally L. Wilson, and Diana P. Hampton also 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildr ... LAfuneral.com \STLnobit1\STLdnot,2\STLobbox,2 \STLnobit1\STLdnot Osborne, ... Read more
	FATHER NATURE CONSERVATIONIST EDWARD O. WILSON IS RENOWNED FOR HIS STUDY OF ANTS. IN HIS NEW BOOK, HE TAKES ON THE BIGGER CONCERNS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND EXTINCTION. The Boston Globe; 2/12/2002; David Mehegan, Globe Staff; 1796 words ; ... universities of Alabama and Tennessee, Wilson came to Harvard in 1951 and eventually ... not only by cultural conditioning. Wilson was immediately denounced as an apologist ... startling. The campaign by the left against Wilson "was not only irrational," he says ... been destroyed since Thoreau's time, ... Read more
	Humanist profile: Edward O. Wilson 1999 Humanist of the Year. The Humanist; 5/1/2005; 356 words ; ... more rational, benign foundation. --Edward O. Wilson in the September/October 1999 Humanist ... the world's preeminent biologists, Edward Osborne Wilson was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on ... bachelor's and master's degrees in biology. Wilson went on to receive his Ph.D. from ... the ... Read more
	OBIT - OSBORNE, GEORGIA KNIGHT Roanoke Times & World News; 6/10/2005; 307 words ; Surrounded by her family, Georgia Knight Osborne, 82, of Independence, Va., went to be with the Lord on June 8, 2005. She was born on November 4, 1922 to George Edward and Elizabeth Guinn Knight of Appalachia, Va. She had lived in Independence, Va. since 1946. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles M ... . Read more
	WILSON.(Obit) The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY); 5/17/2005; 204 words ; Thomas S. Wilson May 16, 2005 Thomas S. Space Wilson, 59, of Albany, died Monday, May 16, 2005, at home. Born and educated in Syracuse, he was the son of the late Edward J. and Anastasia Stasink. Mr. Wilson was a graduate of Nottingham High School in Syracuse and was an Army veteran. He worked for ... Read more
	E.O. WILSON; Natural Man The Washington Post; 6/25/2000; Marie Arana; 610 words ; If the name E.O. Wilson rings with familiarity--two little ... biology, ultimately governed by glands. Edward Osborne Wilson was born in Alabama in 1929 but grew ... his days as a U.S. government clerk. Wilson describes his childhood on the move ... it dismisses questions of religion. Wilson ... Read more
	Proto-postcolonial? Angus Wilson and the languages of liberalism. International Fiction Review; 1/1/2003; MacKay, Marina; 7068 words ; ... exploits the formula of Amis or Wain or Braine or Osborne : It didn't sell because it didn't flatter the middle-cla ... there is in this novel's freewheeling structure. Wilson described it as a farcical horror novel, suggesting ... intentions that James Gindin suggests. (6) Rather, Wilson is following an ... Read more
	ADVANTAGE JONNY Born in poverty in Ireland, lost in drink on the set of 'Alexander', Jonathan Rhys-Meyers has turned a corner to work with Woody Allen and Tom Cruise. It's time to clean up, he tells Edward Helmore Evening Standard - London; 12/2/2005; EDWARD HELMORE; 1541 words ; ... have to be prepared to shoot anything at any given moment.' In other words, with Allen directing, you act yourself. Chris Wilson is a tennis instructor on the make. So? 'I'm an actor, so of course I'm on the make. What actor isn't?' he says reasonably ... his career he's played loners, romantics, antiheroes, such as ... Read more
	Analysis: Biodiversity and the future of life Talk of the Nation (NPR); 1/14/2002; NEAL CONAN; 5455 words ; ... Conan in Washington. In his new book, Edward O. Wilson describes a familiar scene, something ... celebratory champagne, radios the exciting news back home. Professor Wilson, that's not quite the way it actually happens, is it? Dr. EDWARD OSBORNE WILSON (Author, The Future of ... Read more
	The 'Ant Man' comes to Lancaster Intelligencer Journal Lancaster, PA; 2/25/2004; Carla Di Fonzo; 837 words ; Some people call Edward Osborne Wilson the "Ant Man;" others just call ... asked him. Those unacquainted with Wilson and his long career in science soon ... information is completely useless," Wilson said, making the audience laugh ... Read more

See all related premium articles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	Wilson, Edward Osborne Animal Sciences Wilson, Edward Osborne American Biologist 1929- Edward Osborne Wilson was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Wilson originated ... Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1992. Internet Resources "Edward Osborne Wilson." Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. . Read more
	Edward Osborne Wilson Encyclopedia of World Biography Edward Osborne Wilson The American biologist Edward O. Wilson (born 1929) was a leading authority ... Alabama, to Inez (Freeman) and Edward Osborne Wilson, Edward O. Wilson became a naturalist at an early ... graduate study at Harvard University. Wilson's ... Read more
	Wilson, Edward O. World Encyclopedia Wilson, Edward O. ( Osborne) (1929– ) US entomologist ... obtaining his Ph.D. from Harvard University, Wilson and William L. Brown introduced the ... Theory of Island Biogeography (1967), Wilson and Robert MacArthur developed the notion ... species exists for any island.” ... Read more
	Bipartisanship Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy ... government intervention and bureaucracy, and support for free enterprise and a balanced budget. At the same time ... to resurrect the hallowed principles of liberty, free enterprise, patriotism, and family values. To overcome ... the Boland Amendment, sponsored by Representative Edward P. Boland of ... Read more
	Western drama The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ... Arrabal (Spanish), and the early plays of Edward Albee (American). The pessimism and ... brilliantly abusive language of John Osborne 's Look Back in Anger (1956) and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ... Championship Season (1972), Lanford Wilson 's Talley's Folly (1979), and ... Read more