Scientist Edward Wilson, Nicknamed 'Darwin's Natural Heir', Dies At 92

 

'Intellectual Giant'

The Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins, who has publicly disagreed with Wilson on some subjects, praised the late researcher on Twitter, calling him the "greatest myrmecologist" -- ant researcher -- and a "great Darwinian."

Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist at Harvard, also expressed sadness over Wilson's death.

"A great scientist and a lovely man," said Pinker on Twitter. "We disagreed about some things, but it didn't affect his generosity and willingness to engage."

In later years Wilson spoke relentlessly about the need for environmental stewardship, warning of the potential for chaos and ruin if humans do not change course.

"Biodiversity (is) being eroded at an accelerating rate by human activity," he said in a 2014 lecture at Duke University. "And the loss is going to inflict a heavy price in wealth, security and spirit, unless we staunch it."

In 2016, Wilson published the book "Half-Earth," in which he argued for the creation of human-free nature preserves over half of the Earth's surface.

To further that idea, his foundation created the Half-Earth Project, which was substantially supported by singer Paul Simon.

"The world lost a great scientist and I, a dear friend," tweeted Simon, who donated all the proceeds from a 2017 tour to the project.

"Ed was an intellectual giant and a gentle, humble, compassionate man. We were fortunate to have had him for 92 years."