Here are five facts on E.O., American biologist, naturalist, and environmentalist. Wilson, hailed as the Darwin of the 21st century, who died on Sunday at age 92 : * A young Wilson lost most of his vision in his right eye when it was cut by a fish’s fin. He said that the injury caused him to focus on insects and ants because he could inspect them up close with a good eye. Larger animals were difficult to spot in open areas.
* For his book “Pheidole in the New World,” a study of ants, Wilson did all 5,000 drawings himself, Harvard magazine said. * Wilson grew up in the Southern Baptist church and eventually came to think of himself not as an atheist or agnostic but as a “provisional deist” who is “willing to accept the possibility that there is some kind of intelligent force beyond our current understanding”.
* Wilson honed his love of nature in the Boy Scouts, which he called an organization that “seemed invented just for me.” He was awarded the elite rank Eagle Scout. * Wilson’s other honors include the U.S. National Medal of Science, two Pulitzer Prizes for non-fiction and a spot on Time magazine’s list of the 25 most influential people in 1995.
(Writing by Bill Trrott Editing by Mark Heinrich
(This story is not edited by Devdiscourse staff.
