Rating: 
Summary: The gauntlet is hereby thrown
Review: Wilson quite simply places into prose what we as reasonable beings should have grasped all along, that there exists a reality that is independent of human "sophistication". Are we so arrogant as to truly believe that we create reality as we go along? I cannot accpet this. The problems of our world will not be solved by the specialists, but by those individuals and groups that understand that every particle in this universe is governed by the same laws, from the basic laws of physics to the most intricate biological systems. These laws do not and cannot conflict, only compliment. Wilson just has the foresight to glimpse the future, for better or worse...
Rating: 
Summary: An unfounded diatribe against a nameless enemy.
Review: Wilson is still living in the age of enlightenment, in a vast Euclidian world governed by Newton's dynamics. Things are more complicated than that: even a deterministic system can be chaotic, and physics is not deterministic! But Wilson tries to deny these obvious facts. A failure, to say the least.
Rating:
Summary: Not just a theory, a challenge to think
Review: Wilson's prose is superior. Lacking the pseudo-intellectual arrogance found among many academics today, he instead humbly conveys the case for the unity of knowledge. Rather than claim he has found the complete answer, he encourages the readers to delve into their own minds and experiences to find further support for consilience. The credit given to the founders of modern thought is a fitting introduction. Wilson's plea for humanity to become more environmentally aware for our own sake is a timely conclusion. Consilience is a work in progress, to be shaped and pushed forward by all humankind. An excellent work for the dawn of the next millenium.
Rating: 
Summary: eloquent but still an unrealistic reach
Review: This was the first book I have ever read by Wilson and I must say that I was impressed with the eloquent style and passionate conviction he presented. I must say, however, that the overall idea of consilience is a major reach and will never happen. Like alchemy or the fountain of youth it is a grand idea but human nature will never let it happen.
Rating:
Summary: "The quality of consilience is not strained..."
Review: Consilience offers the reader an historic perspective of the scientific method and what it has meant for humanity through the ages. Many of the examples used to show us what life looks like from other organisms' points of view are very eye- opening and, I thought, fascinating. On the other hand, I am reading Robert Pirsig's Lila, and find myself doubting the infallibility of the scientific agenda to "unify" knowledge or to show its unity. As Pirsig points out, a chemistry professor may be broken down into its basic physical components, but they don't have much to do with the chemistry professor we deal with on a fully constructed human level. There may in fact be a unity, but in the end, we'll still have to deal with the chemistry professor's humanity. Consilience is a mind-expanding book. I highly recommend it, and suggest you follow it up by reading Pirsig's Lila. Thanks for reading...
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, if not quite as advertised
Review: After reading the chapter that was published in the Atlantic Monthly a few months back, I was expecting a different kind of book. It seems to me that instead of "The Unity Of Knowledge" the subtitle of Wilson's work should be "The Supremacy of Biology." Tacitly assuming that consilience means to jump together under the umbrella of biology and genetics, Wilson's chapters on arts and their interpretation as well as ethics and religion are forced and reliant on somewhat shaky assertions. The hypothetical "arguments" of the empiricist and the not quite correctly named "trancendentalist" on pages 241-248 are exemplary. Specifically, arguments that religion has been the stated reason for man to do great violence to his fellow man throughout history is not an argument against the existence of a God, or the idea that ethics are inspired by that God. Moreover, Wilson's doomsaying conclusion, while probably true, does not follow from the r! est of his work. At the end of a book where the very existence of free will is at least questioned, pessimistically urging reform in how man relates to his environment is at best a little strange, and at worst a non sequitur. By this time in the book the mind has been so thuroughly objectified that, Wilson being as human as his subject matter and his readers, is succeptible to the same Cretan paradox with which he characterizes the postmodernists.
Rating:
Summary: a book to bring us together
Review: A book long overdue. Follows Bateson book on "unity". We need to see the connectivity of all branches of nature and knowledge-there is so much wisdom for humanity to gather from this process-to live in peace with our environment and ourselves.
Rating:
Summary: Wilson provides a gift... the illusion of understanding
Review: The joy of Wilson's work lies not in whether he not he is speaking truth but that the possibility that he might be should inspire us to check out the possibility... isn't this what science is? He reinforces my experience that the best teachers have left me with an illusion of understanding...
Rating:
Summary: Great way to bring different kinds of knowledge together
Review: Reading this book helped me put different kinds of knowledge together to form a unified vision of life. As a member of humankind, we should not imprison ourslves in a cave of practical skills and forget that well-rounded knowledge is also good for our soul apart from its practical use. Another book I am reading is as great for the same purpose. It uses adventure stories in Virtual Reality to convey ideas about the nature of reality and society, and convinces me that we humans together could be much more creative and intelletually more powerful than we usually think. If you enjoy reading this book, you might as well enjoy reading that one. Title: "Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality."
Rating:
Summary: A rambling essay, with a few flashes of insight...
Review: This book is an essay. It is not scientific.. There are no graphs, no mathematical formulae, no illustrations, and no structured chains of proofs. [It reminds one of such books as "Chaos" (James Gleick), which despite its topic contained only two mathematical formulae.] I liked "The Ants" and "Journey to The Ants". I learned to like Edward O. Wilson after reading his autobiography: "Naturalist". I had really expected something more rigorous than a Jared Diamond or James Gleick popularization. --- The writing in this book reminds me of a thundercloud. The masses of black mist constantly shift and keep one in the dark. Then a bolt of lightning lights up the structure. Then the confusion closes in again. Example of black mist on page 183: "Each of these enterprises [critical theory, functionalism, historicism, antihistoricism, structuralism, poststructuralism, Marxism, and psychoanalytic theory] has contributed something to understanding the human condition. The best of the insights, if pieced together, explain the borad sweep of social behavior, at lest in the same elementary sense that preliterate creation myths explain the universe, that is with conviction and a certain internal consistency." This turbidity cries out for ruthless editing. (Yes, academia is rife with verbiage substituting for simple 12 word declarative sentences, but I expected more from Wilson!) Example of a bolt of lightning (p. 97): "[The brain's] surface is wrinkled like that of a cleaning sponge, and its consistency is custardlik, firm enough to keep from puddling on the floor of the brain case, soft enough to be scooped out with a spoon." Wow, talk about a vivid image!! In fairness to this book, it contains an enormous amount of knowledge, not only from a dizzying array of scientific fields, but from cultural ones, too. Too bad they're thrown together like canned fruit in a Jello medley...
|
