Rating: 
Summary: The authority on this topic breaks it down for all of us
Review: This book took me a long time to get through (probably about a week), because, while the language is user-friendly, there's so much information contained therein that at times it gets overwhelming. The book covers the history of life on earth in broad strokes, from the time of the first replicating organism through the present, and beyond.
More than anything, Wilson asks us to appreciate what goes into evolution, and what we stand to lose if we continue destroying our fellow species at anything near the present rate. He also provides a blueprint for an ideal solution to the current global crisis.
One of my favorite sections is chapter 2, which recounts the story of Krakatau, a volcanic island that was blown from existence in the late 1800s. Biologists were able to visit the diminished rock that remained, and watch the reassembly of life on a less-than-desert island. The recounting of the violence of the explosion is gripping, made vivid through an eyewitness account by the captain of a nearby ship, and through the effects of the explosion, which literally traveled around the world in the form of waves. The tidal waves killed 30,000 people, and the sound was the loudest ever recorded in history (as judged by the distance from which people heard it). Within a year or two, the island began to be a host for life again. Life reached out in several interesting ways, from parachuting arthropods to swimming lizards. You would expect plant life to be the first thing to take hold of the island, but scavengers were able to do their work first, and predators (at the insect level mostly). There were also animals that could eat the things that the sea brought, such as crabs and detritus. Eventually, life rose again, until the island looks very like other islands in the area.
Wilson also recounts how there were five previous great extinction spasms in the history of species, and how humans are bringing on the most terrible one of all.
In chapters four through ten, Wilson explores the various ways in which species evolve to take advantage of habitat. He gives fascinating examples of symbiotic relationships, adaptive radiation, and the way in which live has slowly and steadily become more diverse over the last billion years. He spoke of certain species with great passion, including ants (which are his primary specialty) and sharks. These both represent extremely successful species, as ants make up more biomass than any other type of creature, and sharks are one of the longest-lived lineages in the world, having evolved to take up hundreds of different oceanic niches.
Another striking image in the book is the vastness of the worlds in front of us. There are millions of species of bacteria that are completely unknown to us. He estimates the total number of species as ten to 100 million, and stresses that no one can really be more exact than that with any certainty. Of these, we have named only 1.4 million species, and the naming of them is all we have done in the vast majority of these. Meaning, that for the small number of species we have identified, in most cases we have labeled them with a name and sent a specimen to moulder in the drawer of a museum somewhere. We are very ignorant of the world around us.
The rain forests of South America are the lungs of the world, and contain perhaps half of the total number of species on the planet. When he wrote the book 14 years ago, he noted that the rain forest then took up an area the size of the United States, and was losing 2%, or an area the size of Florida, every year, mostly to small-scale agriculture and logging.
In chapters 11 and 12, Wilson talks about the impact that humans are having on the environment, which is, of course, bad. He notes that ancient humans hunted every large flightless animal to the brink of extinction, pointing the finger at paleo-indians for the disappearance of Wooly Mammoths, and at early Polynesian traders for eating their way through hundreds of island bird species (mostly flightless).
Rather than focus on pollution, Wilson instead talks about physically preserving habitats and environments. There is nothing so threatening to an environment as the clearcutting, burning, or mining of the land itself. Noting that a tenfold decrease in an environment leads to a 50% reduction in the number of species (his own discovery), Wilson makes the plea for preserving large areas of land across the world, especially in 18 global hotspots that represent high areas of diversity that are under fire. This part of the book gets very depressing, as you get a feel for the thousands of problems, the magnitude of solving even one, and the speed with which the situation is worsening.
Finally, in chapters 13, 14 and 15, Wilson puts the hopeful smile back on our faces as he outlines both what needs to be done, and what has already been successfully done.
He notes that the habitats that are being destroyed are mostly ravaged for economic gain. He then makes the argument that, in many cases, the preservation of the land can be more economically beneficial than the razing of it. For example, clearcutting a single hectare of rain forest yield about 1,000 in profit. But, harvesting the commercially viable fruits and other natural resources from the same spot of land yields 422 in profit-every year. He also notes that the pharmaceutical and food industries have much to gain from prospecting for species that can cure disease or hunger in some way, citing many examples.
For example, rather than raise cows, if ranchers raised turtles for their meat, they would get much more meat per dollar spent, and have a much lower impact on the environment.
In his call to action, Wilson asks that a linnean undertaking be carried out that would seek to name every species in the world. He then proposes that the areas be worked to extract some financial value from the species for pharmaceutical companies. Third, he says we should promote sustainable development, by using methods such as strip cutting rather than clear cutting, to take the interest from the land rather than cashing in on the principle. Next, he asks us to save what remains, by essentially recognizing the intrinsic value of the habitats that have no economic value (although, really, every environment has such value in that it provides services to the earth, such as cleaning the air, etc.). Finally, he says we should take steps to restore the environments that we have eliminated. By integrating civilization with the wild, or by reclaiming discarded developed land and making it into a functioning ecosystem, we can actually restore some of the damage we have done.
This was a great book. By laying out the bigger picture, Wilson has shared a vision of the world as it really is, and also given hope by demonstrating that saving the earth is not an "owls vs. loggers" situation that necessitates taking sides. As many environmentalists know, the needs of the earth and capitalism are not at odds.
The book motivated me to see what has changed in the last 12 years, and get an update on the situation.
Rating: 
Summary: An example for many young scientists to follow
Review: "Don't practice science in order to be a success, but be successful in order to practice science" --- E.O.Wilson is an example for many young scientists to follow. His knowledge is broad as well as deep, he studies the nature with awe and respect, he sees far ahead of the rest, and most of all, he's determined to make the world a better place with his knowledge. This book shows you exactly what I mean. No longer can scientists mind their own business behind the closed door of their laboratory, and be blind to what's going on in the real world. Ignorance of the world's problems will only lead to bad science and wrong science. Scientists are also the world's citizens, and it's their duty to serve the interests of the human kind. According to Wilson, nothing is more threatening than the accelerating loss of biological diversity and environmental destruction. In light of the continuing debate of global warming, and the recent oil spill near the Galapagos, Wilson's warnings are most timely. The world is changing, for more worse than better, and what could the coming generations of scientists do? They will find the answer in this wonderful book by a wonderful scientist, E.O.Wilson.
Rating:
Summary: An example for many young scientists to follow
Review: "Don't practice science in order to be a success, but be successful in order to practice science" --- E.O.Wilson is an example for many young scientists to follow. His knowledge is broad as well as deep, he studies the nature with awe and respect, he sees far ahead of the rest, and most of all, he's determined to make the world a better place with his knowledge. This book shows you exactly what I mean. No longer can scientists mind their own business behind the closed door of their laboratory, and be blind to what's going on in the real world. Ignorance of the world's problems will only lead to bad science and wrong science. Scientists are also the world's citizens, and it's their duty to serve the interests of the human kind. According to Wilson, nothing is more threatening than the accelerating loss of biological diversity and environmental destruction. In light of the continuing debate of global warming, and the recent oil spill near the Galapagos, Wilson's warnings are most timely. The world is changing, for more worse than better, and what could the coming generations of scientists do? They will find the answer in this wonderful book by a wonderful scientist, E.O.Wilson.
Rating:
Summary: Stimulating, Intriguing... Brilliant.
Review: (...)E.O. Wilson, the illustrious winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, struck the world of science with this excellent display of his remarkable passion and love for nature's unsurpassed beauty and unforeseen mystery. He narrates an incredible story of how the evolution of life took place, and he lucratively discusses how the species of the Earth developed distinct characteristics from one another. He immerses his readers in great detail when he describes the evolution, adaptation, specialization, colonization, hybridization, recreation and relocation of the species, and he does so with much fluency and consistency. Wilson then reiterates some historical information, explaining that the Earth has already suffered five devastating extinctions and that we may find ourselves upon the brink of yet another destructive calamity - the extinction of the species. He uses this as an introduction to the evident message behind this piece, that is: the human race is in impending danger of impetuously launching this predicted biological catastrophe to rival absolutely anything in evolutionary history. E.O. Wilson makes it lucidly apparent to the jaded populace that they are, in fact, in the midst of such an environmental crisis and that, in time, there will be nothing more we can do to improve this terrible situation.
Rating:
Summary: You'll want to be a biologist!
Review:
Wilson writes a great overview of biodiversity--how it is created, why it is crucial to human survival, and what we must do to preserve it. Enjoy accessible and well-documented writing that takes you from California to Madagascar, from the present to the beginnings of life as known from the fossil record. Along the way you'll learn many of the crucial ecological and evolutionary concepts (such as natural selection, community ecology, biogeography, and more) necessary for understanding what biodiversity is and how it is maintained. And finally, in the last part of the book, learn about philosophies and practices that will enable each of us to preserve the amazing diversity of life that surrounds us. You'll want to be a biologist by the time you finish the book!
Rating:
Summary: You'll want to be a biologist!
Review: Wilson writes a great overview of biodiversity--how it is created, why it is crucial to human survival, and what we must do to preserve it. Enjoy accessible and well-documented writing that takes you from California to Madagascar, from the present to the beginnings of life as known from the fossil record. Along the way you'll learn many of the crucial ecological and evolutionary concepts (such as natural selection, community ecology, biogeography, and more) necessary for understanding what biodiversity is and how it is maintained. And finally, in the last part of the book, learn about philosophies and practices that will enable each of us to preserve the amazing diversity of life that surrounds us. You'll want to be a biologist by the time you finish the book!
Rating: 
Summary: The Diversity of Life
Review: Although this book was well written, with sophisticated language, it was quite dry. It greatly resembled a biology textbook, which causes the reader to lose interest. A lot of imagery and vivid description was used, to help depict the theme of the novel. The book explores the many diverse organisms prevalent in the world, as well as the ones that were presend throughout the course of history. Wilson starts his adventure off in the Amazon River Basin, where he encounters many not widely known species. He explains throughout the novel, the importance of the diversity of life, as well as how nataural disasters do not neccesarily harm diversity. This book is recommended to those who enjoy biology, and would like to explore the theories and examples of biological concepts.
Rating:
Summary: A Review of The Diversity of Life
Review: An incredibly full and rich book that seems to cover every aspect of nature - it poses great questions about diversity and human impact and uses countless examples and sound research. Really great - better if you have a science background as I (without such a background) was a little lost in some of the examples/descriptions. I ceratinly feel better for having read this book. Its a very important work.
Rating:
Summary: Very rich book!
Review: An incredibly full and rich book that seems to cover every aspect of nature - it poses great questions about diversity and human impact and uses countless examples and sound research. Really great - better if you have a science background as I (without such a background) was a little lost in some of the examples/descriptions. I ceratinly feel better for having read this book. Its a very important work.
Rating:
Summary: A truly fascinating yet educational book
Review: Decent mixes of fascinating yet educational texts seem hard to come by these days. Of all my assigned readings in school, I've only encountered one book more delightful to read than this. Wilson's storytelling-type voice lends an air of interest to stories that could be approached on an entirely intellectual level. Instead of boring lecture material beset with convoluted explanations and superfluous wordings, The Diversity of Life uses a more personal voice, and from real-life experiences in the field, explains matters in a method too underused, and most appreciated. Though I haven't finished reading the book yet, I feel confidant that it will remain one of my favorite texts to read. I feel I could even enjoy it outside of class. It is moving, motivating, and almost compels me to be a Biologist. Highly recommended, especially for college biology students.
|
