The creation : an appeal to save life on earth

by Edward O. Wilson

Hardcover, 2006

Status

Available

Publication

New York, N.Y. ; London : Norton, c2006.

Description

" Like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, this is a book about the fate of the earth and the survival of our planet. Wilson attempts to bridge the seemingly irreconcilable worlds of fundamentalism and science. Passionately concerned about the state of the world, he draws on his own personal experiences and expertise as an entomologist, and prophesies that half the species of plants and animals on Earth could either have gone or at least are fated for early extinction by the end of our present century. This is not a bitter, predictable rant against fundamentalist Christians or deniers of Darwin; rather, Wilson, a leading "secular humanist," draws upon his own rich background as a boy in Alabama who "took the waters," and seeks not to condemn this new generation of Christians but to address them on their own terms.--From publisher description.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member eduscapes
Recently there's been lots of discussion about the need for scientists and theologians to find common ground. In particular, I've always wondered why many churches don't seem to be advocates for nature and the environment. E.O. Wilson, an evolutionary biologist and award-winning author is in a
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wonderful position to articulate these concerns. Written as a letter to a pastor, makes a clear case that it's time to take action.
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LibraryThing member normaleistiko
p28 "...the human genome will be modified only at risk. It is far better to work with human nature as it is, by changing our social institutions and moral precepts to get a more nearly optimal fit to our genes, than it would be to tinker with something that took eons of trial and error to create."
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p32 "The power of living Nature lies in sustainability through complexity." p63 "...biophilia, which I defined in 1984 as the innate tendency to affiliate with life and lifelike processes." p64 What is human nature asks Wilson. It is not genes, it is not culture "human nature is the heredity rules of mental development." p117 biodiversity disappearing at an accelerated rate because of HIPO, habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution (all 3 caused by human population growth) and overharvesting. p128 "I didn't understand all the words but, I got the music." p130 a liberal education: facts, concepts, understand how to learn, able and motivated think for self.
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Subjects

Awards

LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Science & Technology — 2006)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Social Sciences — 2006)

Language

Barcode

11797
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