Eugene and Howard Odum

Eugene P. (b. 1913–d. 2002) and Howard T. (b. 1924–d. 2002) Odum were leading figures in the development of ecosystem ecology after the Second World War. They were from a prominent academic family. Their father, the sociologist Howard Washington Odum, was a leading organicist thinker. From their father, Eugene and Howard took the idea of the integration of parts to form a larger social whole, which they later expanded in their holistic ecosystem thinking. The New Deal progressivism that their father espoused became the basis for the Odums’ optimism about protecting the environment through rational planning based on the application of ecological principles. More generally, Howard Washington Odum encouraged his sons’ boyhood interests in science, particularly ornithology. Despite their close identification with the study of ecosystems, both of the younger Odums maintained a strong interest in natural history throughout their careers. The two brothers had contrasting personalities, intellectual perspectives, and styles of research. Yet, despite the differences and some sibling rivalry, they collaborated in a number of significant ways to influence the direction of modern ecology. Most importantly, their deep commitment to the ecosystem as the central concept in ecology and environmental sciences shaped their work, both independently and collaboratively. During the early 1950s, they conducted an important study of ecosystem function on Eniwetok Atoll, the site of US nuclear weapons testing. Like much of their ecosystem research, the study was supported by the US Atomic Energy Commission. Although not directed specifically toward environmental issues of radiation, the work highlighted the coral reef ecosystem as a highly integrated and cooperative assemblage of organisms. The resulting publication was awarded the Mercer Prize from the Ecological Society of America in 1956. Three years later, the second edition of Eugene Odum’s Fundamentals of Ecology was published. This was an expanded edition that included important new chapters on ecosystem energetics and biogeochemical cycling written by H.T. After these early collaborative projects, the Odums pursued largely independent careers and rarely co-authored publications. Nonetheless, their interests in ecosystems continued to intertwine, and although H.T. did not directly contribute to later editions of Fundamentals of Ecology, his important contributions to a theoretical systems ecology continued to inform his brother’s highly influential textbook. The symbiotic relationship between the Odum brothers was recognized later in their careers when they were jointly awarded the Prix de l’Insitut de la Vie in 1975 by the French government and the 1987 Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.