Summary
Edward O. Wilson's "The Diversity of Life" argues that the evolution of life on Earth has resulted in immense species diversity, which is now critically endangered by human activity. The book defines a new environmental ethic centered on the obligation to rescue entire ecosystems, not just individual species, and advocates for an end to the conservation versus development conflict. Wilson asserts that humanity must understand and value all biodiversity for its intrinsic worth and its significance to human well-being, stating that the loss of life's diversity endangers both humanity's physical existence and its spirit.
This work, a classic text, examines the evolutionary processes that generated global species diversity and presents a stark warning about current extinction rates. Wilson addresses the significant advancements in conservation biology, highlighting the ongoing work required to protect the planet's biological richness. The book emphasizes that judging every scrap of biodiversity as priceless is essential as we learn to utilize and comprehend its meaning for humanity.
Key concepts
- New environmental ethic — The obligation to rescue entire ecosystems rather than individual species.
- Priceless biodiversity — Every scrap of biodiversity should be considered invaluable.
- End of conservation versus development argument — A call to resolve the conflict between protecting nature and economic progress.
- Endangered diversity — The state of current species diversity being threatened by human actions.
From the book
Description: "In this book a master scientist tells the great story of how life on earth evolved. Edward O. Wilson eloquently describes how the species of the world became diverse, and why the threat to this diversity today is beyond the scope of anything we have known before." "The Diversity of Life has quickly become a classic text in its definition of a new environmental ethic - our obligation to rescue ecosystems, not simply individual species - and its prescient call for an end to the conservation versus development argument. In an extensive new foreword for this edition, Professor Wilson addresses the explosion of the field of conservation biology and takes a clear-eyed look at the work still to be done."--Jacket.
Description: This classic by the distinguished Harvard entomologist tells how life on earth evolved and became diverse, and now, how diversity and life are endangered by us, truly. While Wilson contributed a great deal to environmental ethics by calling for the preservation of whole ecosystems rather than individual species, his environmentalism appears too anthropocentric: "We should judge every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity." And: "Signals abound that the loss of life's diversity endangers not just the body but the spirit." This reprint of the 1992 Belknap Press publication contains a new foreword. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Snippet: This classic by the distinguished Harvard entomologist tells how life on earth evolved and became diverse, and now, how diversity and life are endangered by us, truly.