<p>I wanted to pass on these words of inspiration and wisdom that I heard this past week at the TEDMED Conference in Washington, D.C. They were uttered by no less an influential scientist than E.O. Wilson, who obtained his B.S. and M.S. at the University of Alabama, before going on to Harvard, where he obtained his Ph.D.</p>
<p>For those of you not familiar with Wilson’s staggering body of work, you can learn about it at [E.O</a>. Wilson | Profile on TED.com](<a href=“http://www.ted.com/speakers/e_o_wilson.html]E.O”>http://www.ted.com/speakers/e_o_wilson.html) and [E</a>. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation | Wilson the Scientist](<a href=“http://eowilsonfoundation.org/wilson-the-scientist]E”>http://eowilsonfoundation.org/wilson-the-scientist). For starters, know that he is University Research Professor Emeritus at Harvard and is the guiding force who shapes the mission of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. He is also a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner.</p>
<p>At TEDMED, Wilson shared a marvelous story. He told the audience that he is math challenged and did not take algebra until he arrived at UA (which he could barely afford). He did not take calculus until he was thirty-two years old and already teaching at Harvard. Some of the students in his calculus class were pupils of his. “I had to swallow a lot of pride,” he said.</p>
<p>His point in all of this was to share his deep concern that science is losing creative minds it desperately needs because so many gifted, would-be scientists fear that they are not sufficiently skilled in math. Wilson argued the point that it is most important to become versed in what he called the language of math, to follow one’s scientific passions, and to leave the construction of rarified formulas and heavy number crunching to collaborators with that sort of gift.</p>
<p>He called out to anxious students watching nationwide on streaming simulcast to stay the course and to use his example as proof that it can be done. I share this in the spirit of his message.</p>
<p>Roll Tide, indeed!</p>