Editing E. O. Wilson (section)

==Early life==
Edward Osborne Wilson was born on June 10, 1929, in [[Birmingham, Alabama]]. He was the only child of Inez Linnette Freeman and Edward Osborne Wilson Sr.<ref name="nytobit">{{Cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Zimmer |date=December 27, 2021 |title=E.O. Wilson, a pioneer of evolutionary biology, dies at 92 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/science/eo-wilson-dead.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=December 27, 2021}}</ref> According to his autobiography, ''[[Naturalist (book)|Naturalist]]'', he grew up in various towns in the [[Southern United States]] which included [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Decatur, Alabama|Decatur]], and [[Pensacola]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Edward O. |year=2006 |title=Naturalist |title-link=Naturalist (book) |isbn=1-59726-088-6 |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=69669557 |page=[[iarchive:naturalist0000wils/page/52/mode/1up|52]]}}</ref> From an early age, he was interested in [[natural history]]. His father was an alcoholic who eventually committed suicide. His parents allowed him to bring home [[Latrodectus|black widow spiders]] and keep them on the porch.<ref name="last">{{Cite news |last1=Olsen |first1=Erik |last2=Gorman |first2=James |last3=Stein |first3=Robin |date=December 27, 2021 |title=Video: The Last Word: E.O. Wilson |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/obituaries/1194834030869/last-word-e-o-wilson-obituary.html |access-date=January 17, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> They divorced when he was seven years old.

In the same year that his parents divorced, Wilson blinded himself in his right eye in a fishing accident.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-26 |title=On the Accidental Career of E.O. Wilson |url=https://lithub.com/on-the-accidental-career-of-e-o-wilson/ |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite the prolonged pain, he did not stop fishing. He did not complain because he was anxious to stay outdoors, and never sought medical treatment. Several months later, his right pupil clouded over with a [[cataract]]. He was admitted to [[Pensacola Hospital]] to have the lens removed. Wilson writes, in his autobiography, that the "surgery was a terrifying [19th] century ordeal". Wilson retained full sight in his left eye, with a vision of 20/10. The 20/10 vision prompted him to focus on "little things": "I noticed butterflies and ants more than other kids did, and took an interest in them automatically." Although he had lost his [[stereoscopy|stereoscopic vision]], he could still see fine print and the hairs on the bodies of small insects. His reduced ability to observe mammals and birds led him to concentrate on insects.<ref name="Wilson-2006">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Edward O. |title=Naturalist |publisher=Island Press [for] Shearwater Books |year=2006 |isbn=1-59726-088-6 |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=69669557}}</ref>

At the age of nine, Wilson undertook his first expeditions at [[Rock Creek Park]] in Washington, D.C. He began to collect insects and he gained a passion for butterflies. He would capture them using nets made with brooms, coat hangers, and cheesecloth bags.<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> Going on these expeditions led to Wilson's fascination with ants. He describes in his autobiography how one day he pulled the bark of a rotting tree away and discovered [[Acanthomyops|citronella ants]] underneath.<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> The worker ants he found were "short, fat, brilliant yellow, and emitted a strong lemony odor".<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> Wilson said the event left a "vivid and lasting impression".<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> He also earned the [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] award and served as Nature Director of his [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]] summer camp. At age&nbsp;18, intent on becoming an [[entomologist]], he began by collecting [[Diptera|flies]], but the shortage of insect pins during World War&nbsp;II caused him to switch to [[ant]]s, which could be stored in vials. With the encouragement of Marion R. Smith, a myrmecologist from the [[National Museum of Natural History]] in Washington, Wilson began a survey of all the ants of [[Alabama]]. This study led him to report the first colony of [[fire ants]] in the U.S., near the port of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buhs |first1=Joshua Blu |title=The Fire Ant Wars: Nature, Science, and Public Policy in Twentieth-Century America |date=2004 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-07981-3 |pages=32–34}}</ref>

=== Education ===

Wilson said he went to 15 or 16 schools during 11 years of schooling.<ref name="last"/> He was concerned that he might not be able to afford to go to a university, and he tried to enlist in the United States Army, intending to earn U.S. government financial support for his education. He failed the Army medical examination due to his impaired eyesight,<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> but was able to afford to enroll in the [[University of Alabama]], where he earned his [[Bachelor of Science]] in 1949 and [[Master of Science]] in biology in 1950. The next year, Wilson transferred to [[Harvard University]].<ref name="Wilson-2006"/> 
 
Appointed to the [[Harvard Society of Fellows]], he traveled on overseas expeditions, collecting ant species from Cuba and Mexico and traveling the South Pacific, including Australia, New Guinea, Fiji, and New Caledonia, as well as to Sri Lanka. In 1955, he received his Ph.D. and married Irene Kelley.<ref name="Academy of Achievement">{{cite web |title=Edward O. Wilson biography and interview |website=achievement.org |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]] |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/edward-o-wilson-ph-d/#interview}}</ref><ref name="contempauthors">{{cite book |editor1-last=Fuller |editor1-first=Amy Elisabeth |year=2011 |chapter=Edward O. Wilson |title=Contemporary Authors |title-link=Contemporary Authors |volume=211 |pages=[[iarchive:contemporaryauth0211unse/page/432/mode/1up|432–437]] |publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] |isbn=978-1-4144-6167-0 |oclc=755975998 |issn=0275-7176 |chapter-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/wilson-edward-o-1929-edward-osborne-wilson}}</ref>

In ''[[Letters to a Young Scientist]]'', Wilson stated his [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]] was measured as 123.<ref>''[[Letters to a Young Scientist]]'', Chapter 6. "I personally made do with an underwhelming 123."</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://fs.blog/e-o-wilson-how-science-works/ | title=E.O. Wilson on Becoming a Great Scientist | date=December 17, 2015 }}</ref>