- Hardcover: 160 pages
- Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co. (19 Sep 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0393062171
- ISBN-13: 978-0393062175
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14.5 x 1.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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- #61 in Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Education > Higher Education > Human > Evolution > Reference
The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth
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Product Description
Review
"The wise and lovely work of a truly learned man." Matthew Scully, The New York Times Book Review "One of our greatest thinkers says we can only rescue the earth by starting with its smallest inhabitants... Read this book." Bryan Appleyard, The Sunday Times "Wilson speaks with a humane eloquence which calls to us all." Oliver Sacks"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
In this daring work, E.O. Wilson proposes an alliance between science and religion to save Earth's vanishing biodiversity. The book is written in the form of a letter to a Southern Baptist Minister with personal anecdotes from Wilson's life. "Pastor, we need your help. The Creation - living Nature - is in deep trouble. Scientists estimate that if habitat conversion and other destructive human activities continue at their present rates half the species of plants and animals on Earth could be either gone or at least fated for early extinction by the end of the century...The ongoing extinction rate is by the most conservative estimates to be about a hundred times above that prevailing before humans appeared on Earth, and is expected to rise to at least a thousand times greater in the next decades." Despite the gloom of our times, "The Creation" offers a ray of hope in the meeting of science and religion.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species" he declared it to be "one long argument". Today, less than 150 years later, Edward O. Wilson explains that the one species omitted [except for one sentence] from the "argument" is devastating the life of the planet. In one long appeal to a fictional Baptist pastor, Wilson describes what is clear to all but a few dedicated die-hards - life on this planet is in deep trouble. The die-hards are firmly identified in the opening passages; Christians in the US who regard themselves as "biblical literalists". Such folk expect the Apocalypse soon and saving the environment is of little concern.
Wilson clearly knows his potential audience and addresses it. He understands the opinions his readers hold and addresses them in language familiar to them. "Biology" he contends, "now leads in reconstructing the human self-image". That means that biology can explain what is happening to the life around us and how we are dealing with it. He carefully allows the potential for a deity to have a role, but it isn't one dealing with the current situation. Because it is humanity stripping the rainforests, causing the oceans to warm and destroying life in them, or filling the atmosphere with chemicals it cannot absorb, it is up to people to take the steps necessary to halt these degradations.
In showing his "pastor" the interconnectivity of all life, the author utilises clear, undemanding prose. Whether one believes a god plays a role in this network is immaterial. People and their actions are unweaving that network. Species extinction is forever, and whatever biology can explain, it hasn't had the time or opportunity to assess the impact of what is occurring. The job, he says, is clearly too vast, and the relationships are too intricate. That, however, doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Nor does it mean that lack of knowledge renders the problem something we can dismiss. We ignore the result of our actions at our peril.
Going a step further in his analysis, Wilson notes the planet's rash of environmental "hotspots" that need immediate solutions addressed to them. He's even able to put a price on healing the afflicted areas. He proposes forms of "protective umbrellas" that can be applied to areas like the Amazon and Congolian basins and others. These saving mechanisms would require "one payment of about US$30 billion". That's about 15 weeks of current expenditure on Iraq's occupation at the latest rates. He further shows how the subsidies given the fishing industry in the US alone, if redirected to a programme of oceanic reserves, would allow fish stocks to recover. To ensure the survival of countless threatened species, it's a minimal expence. If humans can set themselves up as gods in destroying the environment, they can act creatively to preserve it.
Wilson's "letter" may seem a bit lengthy at 170 pages, but as "one long appeal" to his audience, it's not overmuch to take up. Take it up and read it. Then have your children read it - they are the ones confronting the future Wilson describes. The offer it to the pastor nearest you. Religious leaders have whole flocks who should hear what Wilson has to say. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Wilson clearly knows his potential audience and addresses it. He understands the opinions his readers hold and addresses them in language familiar to them. "Biology" he contends, "now leads in reconstructing the human self-image". That means that biology can explain what is happening to the life around us and how we are dealing with it. He carefully allows the potential for a deity to have a role, but it isn't one dealing with the current situation. Because it is humanity stripping the rainforests, causing the oceans to warm and destroying life in them, or filling the atmosphere with chemicals it cannot absorb, it is up to people to take the steps necessary to halt these degradations.
In showing his "pastor" the interconnectivity of all life, the author utilises clear, undemanding prose. Whether one believes a god plays a role in this network is immaterial. People and their actions are unweaving that network. Species extinction is forever, and whatever biology can explain, it hasn't had the time or opportunity to assess the impact of what is occurring. The job, he says, is clearly too vast, and the relationships are too intricate. That, however, doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Nor does it mean that lack of knowledge renders the problem something we can dismiss. We ignore the result of our actions at our peril.
Going a step further in his analysis, Wilson notes the planet's rash of environmental "hotspots" that need immediate solutions addressed to them. He's even able to put a price on healing the afflicted areas. He proposes forms of "protective umbrellas" that can be applied to areas like the Amazon and Congolian basins and others. These saving mechanisms would require "one payment of about US$30 billion". That's about 15 weeks of current expenditure on Iraq's occupation at the latest rates. He further shows how the subsidies given the fishing industry in the US alone, if redirected to a programme of oceanic reserves, would allow fish stocks to recover. To ensure the survival of countless threatened species, it's a minimal expence. If humans can set themselves up as gods in destroying the environment, they can act creatively to preserve it.
Wilson's "letter" may seem a bit lengthy at 170 pages, but as "one long appeal" to his audience, it's not overmuch to take up. Take it up and read it. Then have your children read it - they are the ones confronting the future Wilson describes. The offer it to the pastor nearest you. Religious leaders have whole flocks who should hear what Wilson has to say. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Written to a hypothetical Southern Baptist pastor, The Creation is effectively an open letter to American evangelicals. Locked in its defense of a literal view of the Genesis creation, the church has made science an enemy. The tragedy, says Wilson, is that there is plenty of common ground, and that a global crisis is being ignored while we squabble over matters of origin.
More than that though, this is a loosely themed book that lets one of the world's best biologists ramble about what he's most passionate about. He talks about ants, birds and plants, describing each species as "a masterpiece of biology". He laments the destructiveness of mankind, a species that is altering the climate, "all by our bipedal, wobbly-headed selves." He estimates that we may only know as little as one millionth of what biology will eventually know. He calls for better, more hands-on teaching of science. It's a little fragmented, but overall the book adds up to a celebration of biodiversity, of the infinite complexity and beauty of nature, something that we must be able to appreciate regardless of how we believe it came into existence.
As a Christian who shares many of Wilson's frustrations, it's great to see an attempt at a rapprochement between science and faith coming from the atheist side. I don't know if it'll work, but I hope we might have the humility to reciprocate.
More than that though, this is a loosely themed book that lets one of the world's best biologists ramble about what he's most passionate about. He talks about ants, birds and plants, describing each species as "a masterpiece of biology". He laments the destructiveness of mankind, a species that is altering the climate, "all by our bipedal, wobbly-headed selves." He estimates that we may only know as little as one millionth of what biology will eventually know. He calls for better, more hands-on teaching of science. It's a little fragmented, but overall the book adds up to a celebration of biodiversity, of the infinite complexity and beauty of nature, something that we must be able to appreciate regardless of how we believe it came into existence.
As a Christian who shares many of Wilson's frustrations, it's great to see an attempt at a rapprochement between science and faith coming from the atheist side. I don't know if it'll work, but I hope we might have the humility to reciprocate.
Format:Kindle Edition
The science in this book is solid and not difficult to appreciate. This book is however patronising, forcing the issue of evolution over creation, rather than necessarily stressing the importance of defending life on earth. By the end, this is more a sort of political manifesto with lots of unrealistic aspirations, a scientific wish list without an analysis of how these wishes may be fulfilled by broad appeal to the people capable of improving the situation.
Laudable as much of the message is, I found it stifling, over scientific, patronising and not giving non-human life forms the recognition they deserve. Perhaps an appeal to the sacred rather than "science" alone and emphasising compassion more would have enlivened the book and granted its message the importance it deserves.
At a time when biodiversity studies are in decline along with Natural History Museums and nature reserves ... I think a warmer manifesto is sorely needed and this book is only part of that.
Laudable as much of the message is, I found it stifling, over scientific, patronising and not giving non-human life forms the recognition they deserve. Perhaps an appeal to the sacred rather than "science" alone and emphasising compassion more would have enlivened the book and granted its message the importance it deserves.
At a time when biodiversity studies are in decline along with Natural History Museums and nature reserves ... I think a warmer manifesto is sorely needed and this book is only part of that.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A great read
Anything by E O Wilson is worth reading, particularly in areas of controversy such as creationism and the life of the planet.
Published on 5 Jun 2009 by Dr. G. H. W. Milburn
Admirable, but addresses the wrong people
This is an interesting book, as all of Wilson's books are interesting. I like the story about the fire ants that plagued the islands in the Caribbean some centuries ago and the... Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2006 by Dennis Littrell
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