This is great info, enjoyable to read and worthwhile. It is often reminding me of The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, but explores a much more biological point of reference. It's incredibly factual and detailed about the flora and fauna of the planet and human impact. Wilson urges that because we have conscious choice, we have the option to curb our actions as humanity spreads and destroys at increasingly rapid rates. He encourages a long dormant desire in me to want for the better of the whole

This is mostly a book about the problems of decreased biodiversity, so it's a very sad read.

Since being very interested in the subject of environmental studies, it was a great pleasure for me to come across this book. Without any doubt I can claim, that one of its strength is deep love for nature. Nevertheless, there was a number of views presented in the book, which I personally found disagreeable with the main pro-ecological idea of the work. One of such controversial opinions expressed by the Author was the encouragement of families with no children. I am deeply concerned that the l...

After a fictive discussion with Thoreau to establish a mental framework for the material covered, the author begins by encapsulating the extent of biodiversity on Earth. Then he moves on to compare the economist versus the environmentalist perspectives of the value of biodiversity. All very logically with salient points, and an aspect expanded on in later material.Within the material the author takes a balanced and hopeful approach, including with the evangelical culture. Quoted is the voice of

Skip the overwrought introduction if it turns you off. The motivational parts are a little weak. The rest of the book is fascinating and enlightening.His major theses:- The only way to preserve the remaining species on earth is to protect large contiguous areas of habitat.- The wilderness is worth protecting, both economically and morally.- With a small change in priorities, most of the remaining species can be protected at a reasonable cost.Here are the most interesting facts I picked up from r...

For a book published in 2002, it is good to see how much that was written about has come to pass; improved understanding of the environment, a desire to think big in terms of conservation areas, and looking at the biodiversity of regions.That said there are areas that have not progressed. Along with animal extinctions, loss of rainforest, and other environmental disasters that have happened around the world.The solutions that he proposes in the final chapter are still valid, and any government s...

The Future of Life was ‘required’ reading for incoming freshmen at BSC in 2003. It has been incredibly interesting revisiting this “call to arms” for environmental conservationism 15 years later - even more so with the issues recently with the EPA. E. O. Wilson is optimistic, tempered by realism and pragmatism, about what can be done to protect the biodiversity under threat from governmental, economic, and ideological choices of those in power. He also outlines some steps the individual can take...

A beautifully written book by Edward O. Wilson in defense of nature and biodiversity, in it the author argues that the time has come we homo sapiens take responsibility for our actions and stop running amok letting other creatures live on this planet we both call home.The book paints a less than flattering picture of humanity. Basically, imagine a sci-fi scenario in which the protagonists are locked in a closed space with some horrendous creature that hunts them for sport, food or just to elimin...

A great book for those concered about the environment and the state of our natural world. Ed Wilson first made me ashamed to be a human being of this planet, then convinced me that we are smart enough, talented enough, and moral enough to not only do something to protect and preserve life on this planet, but possibly correct many of the wrongs from the past. These people are already hard at work and while the progress is slow, it is still progress.The book is a bit academic at times; lots of sta...

Brilliant book for non-biologists about the wondrous intricacies of life on earth and where it's headed if humans don't quickly ramp up their learning curve about how they're about to destroy the tidy house of cards that represents modern "civilization." This book explains why humans are the most dangerous invasive species on earth. But unlike other invasives, they may bring about their own extinction during a relatively short residence in biosphere earth.

Oh man are we in trouble. I wish someday I could know as much as Wilson and be as articulate and persuasive as he is. Even as he presents depressing fact after depressing fact, there remains an optimistic undertone. How can you spot thinkers like this in their youth and cling to their coattails?

Wilson explains how all ecosystems, even those populated by the minutest of species, are linked to all other ecosystems creating one super organism. This super organism surrounds Earth and provides not only equilibrium but services to humanity like water purification, climate regulation, soil enrichment and crop pollination. These services are worth an estimated/astronomical 33 trillion dollars per year. He describes forces that can lead to the extinction of a species and argues that at current

A damning argument with all the pieces to show how humans have become the apex predator, polluter, and parasite on Earth. Covering survival in the most basic life form to the role of biodiversity in complex ecosystems, humans have the knowledge and ability to reverse the trend of destroying Earth because of EO Wilson.

I picked up this book most interested in following the trail of bio-prospecting, hearing about some of the field's successes, some predictions for it’s future impact on medicine, pharmaceuticals, etc.While I expected this book to be great, I was let down by the author's writing style and focus in some sections.The entire first half of the book was disappointingly dedicated to convincing me that the preservation of bio-diversity is a noble cause. At the most, I expected a section focused on this

My Audible review:I've listened to Cousteau's "The Human, the Orchid and The Octopus" and Jane Goodall's "Reason for Hope" and just finished this one. To be brief, I think this one stands head-and-shoulders above the other two as a case for the environment and a roadmap for a sustainable way of live for humanity. As an environmental educator, I appreciate Wilson's fact-based approach here in regards to both the problems and the solutions; Goodall and Cousteau both argued more from an emotional p...

Awesome, awesome book.I am not what anyone would call a liberal. Neither am I a conservative. I live outside those labels and live in the land of the spiritual, being aware of the connectedness of all things. (Without being Buddhist.)It was to that part of my mind and soul this book resonated.Liberals would thoroughly enjoy this read. Conservatives would enjoy lots of exclamations and expletives.In my opinion, the author went above and beyond in his description of what is happening to the enviro...

This was my first E.O. Wilson popular book (a sad admission for an ecologist, I know), but I'm so glad I finally took the plunge. Wilson's writing is superb. His fascination, intense love, and awe of the natural world shines through in elegant, pithy phrases and humorous descriptions and one-liners. This particular book takes the readers through the wonders of the teeming biodiversity of the world (big and charismatic to microscopic and mysterious) to the perils that diversity has faced and cont...

This is a must read book for anyone who breaths and would prefer for it not to be a lung full of cancerous soot and toxins. Inspirational and oddly optimistic in this age of knee-jerk "the sky is falling" pessimists...even though the sky may be falling...or at least filling up with human-made heat trapping gases.

Simply phenomenal - outlines a variety of environmental issues, why we should care about them and how we can fix it all.