The Diversity of Life

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An important book - Rated
An important book for anyone who wants to know about the diversity of life, why it matters, the impact of human activity upon it and how we can protect it. I don't know about required reading in schools but it should certainly be required reading for all those politicians who are now proudly professing their green credentials. If you haven't already, I would recommend getting the latest edition of the book - I have a 1992 print and it is a little dated in certain areas such as those that refer to extinction events and the human genome project.

A calm and balanced view of biodiversity and extinction - Rated
If you watch nature programmes, Edward O Wilson is one of those intrepid biologists you see fairly frequently, looking serious and concerned, dressed for the jungle and being interviewed about deforestation, biodiversity, ecology and so on. He's one of my favourite "talking heads", along with the likes of David Attenborough. This is the first time I've read one of his books and I found it fascinating. His writing style is not as easy and fluent as some other writers I could mention. The best plain English writer in this general area (well, close enough: evolutionary biology, which is just as potentially technical and complicated) is Richard Dawkins, in my opinion. But Mr Wilson's style gets easier after a couple of chapters as you settle into his flow.

There's a comprehensive Foreword and, at the end there are Notes, a Glossary and an Index. the body of the book is divided into 3 sections:

1) "Violent Nature, Resilient Life" covers the destructive forces of nature such as those that have wiped out vast numbers of species in the past and describes how life clings on and returns to repopulate zones of devastation.

2) "Biodiversity Rising" covers the generation of biodiversity: how and why new species evolve; the time this takes; potential extent of the diversity in various types of habitat.

3) "The Human Impact" covers the ways humans have driven and are driving species to extinction, the speed of destruction, the time it would take to re-establish a high level of biodiversity, the possible consequences of severe reduction in biodiversity for life on earth and humanity in particular, and what can be done to slow down and reverse the impoverishment trend.

The author presents his facts and lays out the case for conservation in a very cool and logical way. He doesn't give the impression of emotional over-reaction that some people in government and industry (those with a strong economic interest) accuse environmentalists of showing. The case set out in this book is chillingly clear and convincing. It's a subject that should concern everyone on the planet so I recommend this book to all of them.

Masterpiece - Rated
If there's one book that changed my life this is it. The book starts with an almost poetic style. From page one, the author's incredible description of a moonless night in the Amazon jungle transports you there. You are reminded that whilst humans sleep at night, most animals have just begun their activities. Everything we always took for granted is looked at from several different angles throughout the book. Simple facts become beautifully interwound in the web of life. More importantly however, are the simple alternatives and solutions the author presents to our way of life which is rapidly eroding the natural habitat that we depend on for our survival. Books like these should be made compulsory at shcool. Oh, couldn't we substitute those bibles in hotel drawers with this book?

You'll want to be a biologist! - Rated

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!