The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth
By Edward O. Wilson (Norton / $21.95)
In his latest book, Edward O. Wilson, the eminent Harvard sociobiologist (and former Nature Conservancy board member), issues an urgent plea for people of faith to join with the scientific community in protecting our natural world. Wilson, a self-described “secular humanist” who was raised a Southern Baptist, structures The Creation as a series of letters to a fictional pastor of his childhood religion. In the letters, he considers such fundamental questions as “What is nature?” and “Why care?” Describing himself as a scientist who “has spent a lifetime studying the Creation,” he concludes that the scientific and religious communities share common interests and a common imperative of stewardship. Setting aside our differences, he argues, the two must join together to save Earth’s vanishing biodiversity.
—Teresa Duran
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