Background
Edward Oswald Wilson was born on June 10, 1929, in Birmingham, Alabama. His parents divorced when he was seven, and he spent time shuffling around the country with his father and stepmother. He spent most of his time in the outskirts of Mobile, Alabama, observing nature- from birds to ants to sea creatures.
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At first, he wanted to study birds, but he had hearing problems and a fishing accident injured one of his eye, leaving him nearly blind, making his dreams of becoming an ornithologist impossible. Wilson then turned his attention to smaller inscects which he could study easily with a microscope, or up close with his good eye.
In 1951, he went to Harvard to study in its Museum of Comparative Zoology, where he received his Ph.D. in 1955 and became a member of the staff in 1956.
He has written 31 books and 433 technical papers, and is the recipient of many awards for science, literature, and his work in conservation. In 2006, he founded the E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation to protect the biodiversity of life on earth. |