Richard Levins

Levins in May 2015

Richard "Dick" Levins (June 1, 1930 – January 19, 2016) was an American ecologist, a population geneticist, biomathematician, mathematical ecologist, and philosopher of science.^[1][2][3] He had researched diversity in human populations. Levins was a university professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a long-time political activist. He was best known for his work on evolution and complexity in changing environments and on metapopulations.

Levins died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January 19, 2016 from heart failure at the age of 85.^[4][5]

References

1. Weisberg, M. Richard Levins’ Philosophy of Science, Biology and Philosophy, November 2006, Volume 21, Issue 5, pp 603-605, First online: 05 January 2007, accessed 1/22/2016
2. Wimsatt, W. Richard Levins as Philosophical Revolutionary, Biology and Philosophy, January 2001, Volume 16, Issue 1, pp 103-108, accessed 1/22/2016
3. Winther, R.S. On the dangers of making scientific models ontologically independent: taking Richard Levins’ warnings seriously, Biology and Philosophy, November 2006, Volume 21, Issue 5, pp 703-724, First online: 16 January 2007, accessed 1/22/2016
4. In memoriam: Richard Levins, ecologist, biomathematician, and philosopher of science, Harvard Chan School faculty memorial announcement, January 22, 2016
5. Richard Levins, 1930-2016

Other websites

• Prof. Richard Levins, PhD
• Harvard webpage
• In "Living the 11th Thesis" Richard Levins discusses his own biography
• Personal narrative of political activity in Puerto Rico
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 'Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research' page on Richard Levins Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine