Edward Osborne Wilson Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 1929
He studied biology at the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. from Harvard University, of which he is an honorary professor. He has received, among other awards, the National Medal of Sciences of the United States, the Crafoord Prize Medal and the Pulitzer and over twenty-five honorary doctorates. In 1975, under the name of sociobiology Wilson proposed a consistent theory in "the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior." It was the first evolutionary biologist who posited the theory that the key to evolution is the preservation of the gene rather than the individual. Considered one of the most notable scientists of the twentieth century, Edward O. Wilson has excelled as a biologist (the world's largest specialist in ants), researcher, theorist and naturalist. Concepts and categories usual today were introduced by him in the scientific literature: social behavior, reproductive success, genetic relatedness and biodiversity, among others. For his work Creation, Edward O. Wilson has been awarded the 2007 TED Prize, awarded annually to honor someone who has shown he can "have positive effects for life on this planet."