Eugene Odum
Encyclopedia
Eugene Pleasants Odum was an American scientist
known for his pioneering work on ecosystem ecology
. He wrote the first ecology textbook
: Fundamentals of Ecology.
Life depends on adequate conditions of food, water
, and shelter from inclement elements and also that weather
, geological
, and biological
factors (among others) are involved in the web of life that affords this environment
. In the 1940s and 1950s, "ecology
" was not yet a field of study that had been defined as a separate discipline. Even professional biologists seemed to Odum to be generally under-educated about how the Earth's ecological systems interact with one another. Odum brought forward the importance of ecology as a discipline that should be a fundamental dimension of the training of a biologist.
, and brother of Howard T. Odum
, E.P. Odum credited his father for imparting to him a holistic
approach to looking at things. When contemplating his advanced education, he rejected both the University of Michigan
and Cornell University
, as he did not feel that this holism was embodied in their approach to their biology
departments. Instead, he chose the Graduate Department of Zoology
at the University of Illinois
where he earned his doctorate
degree. He had one son William with his wife Martha. Odum was very proud of Martha's accomplishment as an artist. She often painted landscapes when traveling with her husband across the US and overseas. Sadly, their son William died in his 40s, but not before making important contributions to science while a faculty member at the University of Virginia.
Upon his graduation, Odum took up a teaching position in the University of Georgia
in 1940. In the late 1940s, while serving on the University's biology faculty committee, which was then drawing up a new curriculum
, he perceived an urgent need to incorporate the subject of ecology when he found that his colleagues generally did not know what ecology (in its own right) might be.
Odum adopted and developed further the term "ecosystem". Although sometimes said to have been coined by Raymond Lindeman
in 1942, the term "ecosystem" first appeared in a 1935 publication by the British
ecologist, Arthur Tansley
, and had in 1930 been coined by Tansley's colleague, Roy Clapham. Before Odum, the ecology of specific organism
s and environments had been studied on a more limited scale within individual sub-disciplines of biology. Many scientist
s doubted that it could be studied on a large scale, or as a discipline in itself. Odum wrote a textbook on ecology with his brother, Howard Thomas Odum
, a graduate student at Yale
. The Odum brothers' book (first edition, 1953), Fundamentals of Ecology, was the only textbook in the field for about ten years. Among other things, the Odums explored how one natural system can interact with another. Their book has since been revised and expanded.
While Odum did wish to influence the knowledge base and thinking of fellow biologists and of college and university students, his historical role was not as a promoter of public environmentalism
as we now know it. However, his dedication in his 1963 book, Ecology, expressed that his father had inspired him to "seek more harmonious relationships between man and nature". By 1970, when the first Earth Day
was organized, Odum's conception of the living Earth
as a global set of interlaced ecosystems became one of the key insights of the environmental movement
that has since spread through the world. He was, however, an independent thinker who was at times, gently critical of the slogans and fashionable concepts of the environmentalist movement.
Odum's will stipulated that, after his death, his 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) on the Middle Oconee River in Athens, Ga. would be sold and developed according to plans he laid out before his death. He would often show friends and colleagues hand sketched plans for his vision of this green community. Plans included that over 50 percent of the property would be protected greenspace and walking trails, managed by the Oconee River Land Trust. Profits from the sale of the land would go to the Eugene and William Odum Ecology Fund, after $1 million is set aside for a professorial chair at UGA in Odum's name. The land was sold to builder John Willis Homes who is honoring Dr Odum’s wishes at Beech Creek Preserve. Ultimately, Odum's financial contributions were focused on not only the University of Georgia, but also the University of Virginia given his son's faculty appointment there, and the University of North Carolina where his father as a prolific scholar. Ultimately, his wealth--partly the product of book royalties--benefitted those institutions that he respected.
In 2007 the Institute of Ecology, which Odum founded at the University of Georgia
, became the Odum School of Ecology
, the first stand-alone academic unit of a research university dedicated to ecology.
Odum died while gardening and this seemed appropriate given his love of the outdoors.
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
known for his pioneering work on ecosystem ecology
Ecosystem ecology
Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components such as chemicals, bedrock, soil, plants, and animals.Ecosystem ecology...
. He wrote the first ecology textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
: Fundamentals of Ecology.
Life depends on adequate conditions of food, water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
, and shelter from inclement elements and also that weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
, geological
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, and biological
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
factors (among others) are involved in the web of life that affords this environment
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
. In the 1940s and 1950s, "ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
" was not yet a field of study that had been defined as a separate discipline. Even professional biologists seemed to Odum to be generally under-educated about how the Earth's ecological systems interact with one another. Odum brought forward the importance of ecology as a discipline that should be a fundamental dimension of the training of a biologist.
Life and work
Son of the sociologist, Howard W. OdumHoward W. Odum
Howard Washington Odum was an American sociologist.-Biography:...
, and brother of Howard T. Odum
Howard T. Odum
Howard Thomas Odum was an American ecologist...
, E.P. Odum credited his father for imparting to him a holistic
Holism
Holism is the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone...
approach to looking at things. When contemplating his advanced education, he rejected both the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
and Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, as he did not feel that this holism was embodied in their approach to their biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
departments. Instead, he chose the Graduate Department of Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
at the University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
where he earned his doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
degree. He had one son William with his wife Martha. Odum was very proud of Martha's accomplishment as an artist. She often painted landscapes when traveling with her husband across the US and overseas. Sadly, their son William died in his 40s, but not before making important contributions to science while a faculty member at the University of Virginia.
Upon his graduation, Odum took up a teaching position in the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
in 1940. In the late 1940s, while serving on the University's biology faculty committee, which was then drawing up a new curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
, he perceived an urgent need to incorporate the subject of ecology when he found that his colleagues generally did not know what ecology (in its own right) might be.
Odum adopted and developed further the term "ecosystem". Although sometimes said to have been coined by Raymond Lindeman
Raymond Lindeman
Raymond Laurel Lindeman was an ecologist whose graduate research is often credited with being a seminal study in field of ecosystem ecology...
in 1942, the term "ecosystem" first appeared in a 1935 publication by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
ecologist, Arthur Tansley
Arthur Tansley
Sir Arthur George Tansley FRS was an English botanist who was a pioneer in the science of ecology. He obtained his degree in Biological Science in 1896, with specialization in botany and zoology. From the start, he was much influenced by the Danish plant ecologist Eugenius Warming. He championed...
, and had in 1930 been coined by Tansley's colleague, Roy Clapham. Before Odum, the ecology of specific organism
Organism
In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...
s and environments had been studied on a more limited scale within individual sub-disciplines of biology. Many scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
s doubted that it could be studied on a large scale, or as a discipline in itself. Odum wrote a textbook on ecology with his brother, Howard Thomas Odum
Howard T. Odum
Howard Thomas Odum was an American ecologist...
, a graduate student at Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. The Odum brothers' book (first edition, 1953), Fundamentals of Ecology, was the only textbook in the field for about ten years. Among other things, the Odums explored how one natural system can interact with another. Their book has since been revised and expanded.
While Odum did wish to influence the knowledge base and thinking of fellow biologists and of college and university students, his historical role was not as a promoter of public environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
as we now know it. However, his dedication in his 1963 book, Ecology, expressed that his father had inspired him to "seek more harmonious relationships between man and nature". By 1970, when the first Earth Day
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
was organized, Odum's conception of the living Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
as a global set of interlaced ecosystems became one of the key insights of the environmental movement
Environmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
that has since spread through the world. He was, however, an independent thinker who was at times, gently critical of the slogans and fashionable concepts of the environmentalist movement.
Odum's will stipulated that, after his death, his 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) on the Middle Oconee River in Athens, Ga. would be sold and developed according to plans he laid out before his death. He would often show friends and colleagues hand sketched plans for his vision of this green community. Plans included that over 50 percent of the property would be protected greenspace and walking trails, managed by the Oconee River Land Trust. Profits from the sale of the land would go to the Eugene and William Odum Ecology Fund, after $1 million is set aside for a professorial chair at UGA in Odum's name. The land was sold to builder John Willis Homes who is honoring Dr Odum’s wishes at Beech Creek Preserve. Ultimately, Odum's financial contributions were focused on not only the University of Georgia, but also the University of Virginia given his son's faculty appointment there, and the University of North Carolina where his father as a prolific scholar. Ultimately, his wealth--partly the product of book royalties--benefitted those institutions that he respected.
In 2007 the Institute of Ecology, which Odum founded at the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
, became the Odum School of Ecology
Odum School of Ecology
The Odum School of Ecology is a school within the University of Georgia and the successor of the UGA Institute of Ecology. It is named after Eugene Odum, the founder of the Institute.-History:...
, the first stand-alone academic unit of a research university dedicated to ecology.
Odum died while gardening and this seemed appropriate given his love of the outdoors.
Books
- Fundamentals of Ecology (with Howard Odum)
- Ecology
- Basic Ecology
- Ecology and Our Endangered Life Support Systems
- Ecological Vignettes: Ecological Approaches to Dealing with Human Predicament
- Essence of Place (co-authored with Martha Odum)
Full-text online articles
- The Strategy of Ecosystem Development
- Comparison of population energy flow of a herbivorous and a deposit-feeding invertebrate in a salt marsh ecosystem (with Alfred E. Smalley)
