[laughter] please welcome e.o. wilson back to the library. [applause] >> good evening. it is good to meet you finally and person dr. wilson and back to philadelphia. so to start off to get to know you i want to give the audience said chance as well and you are a very talented man and had done extremely well in the field you have chosen. >> of biographical questions and thank you for making it easy. [laughter] and what do you mean by existence? [laughter] the easy question was in the deep south i had a comfortable life almost every day my parents did not know about it so but i wanted to go. on the river banks of alabama. and decided very early i would be an entomologist. and then living in washington for a brief period of time. and the expedition set was reading about and i thought that is what i would like to do. or a tropical explorer and realized that is a little boy a stream and to this day i have not changed i am about jazz imager as i was then. [laughter] >> for my follow-up question what makes you so passionate that at such "in-depth" level for many years? >> let m

e.o. wilson. e's received the pulitzer prize twice for his engaging nonfiction that explores the intersection of biology, sociology and the humanities. dr. wilson's research explores the world of ants and other tiny creatures, illuminating how all living things, great and small, are interdependent. as such, he remains an impassioned advocate for conservation and biodiversity, fighting to preserve the wondrous variety of the natural world. his new book bridges science and philosophy to create a 21st century treatise on human existence. dr. wilson's slim new book is valedictory book, according to "the new york times." he stands above the crowd of biology writers. he's wise, learned, wicked, vivid, miraculous. dr. wilson will be interviewed tonight by dr. shepard, a fellow at temple university hospital and a fellow at temple's center for bioethics, urban health and policy. he earned his master's in bioethics from the university of pennsylvania. he's also my husband which is perhaps the greatest accola