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| Why does nature decline even as our understanding of it advances? In The Future of Life (Knopf, $22), two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson addresses this conundrum with his usual forcefulness, laying the blame on "Homo sapiens, serial killer of the universe," while also laying out a new agenda for saving the biological treasures hidden in our midst. Readers of Wilson, a pioneer in the fields of sociobiology and biodiversity who sits on The Nature Conservancy’s governing board, will be familiar with the blunt tone. After all, this is the same author who has said that if humans go the way of the dinosaur, "we have only ourselves to blame." And the situation does sound bleak in this new book, as Wilson cites the plight of countless imperiled species, including the desperately endangered Sumatran rhino. Even so, Wilson believes we can still save the planet. His prescription: rebuilding Earth’s lost wilderness using "megaprojects" that connect existing parks and reserves through large natural corridors and developing a new "global land ethic" that "listen[s] carefully to the heart, then acts with rational intention." — Louis Bayard |
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Copyright © 2008 The Nature Conservancy