Edward O. Wilson is arguably the world's most famous myrmecologist - he studies ants, but most people have not heard of myrmecology. They may have heard of entomology and almost certainly have heard of evolutionary biology.
Wilson has long held that his study of ants can tell us about people and that hasn't been without controversy. His acrimony with paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, who likewise extrapolated his knowledge into the social working of mankind, never ended, even after Gould died.
At 82, he is not slowing down, and he is currently trying to study (and save) a patch of wilderness and continue to puncture some holes in kin selection and inclusive fitness and his more recent work has gotten him attacked by lots and lots of younger scientists attached to a particular mindset (and Richard Dawkins, attached to his own) but he perseveres in his quest for answers despite what co-discoverer of the DNA double helix Dr. James Watson called attacks by 'unpleasant leftists.'
Read his latest adventures at E. O. Wilson’s Theory of Everything by Howard French, The Atlantic
And below, see a picture of Wilson with a bear, not an ant, at his 80th birthday celebration - our mascot Bloggy.
