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The Diversity of Life (Cobee) (Questions of Science)

By: E O Wilson
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674212983
ISBN-13: 9780674212985
Released: 14 Jan 1993
RRP: £20.95
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

An important book - By: C. A. Gallagher, 14 Mar 2007
An important book for anyone who wants to know about the diversity of life, why it matters, the impact of human activity upon it & how we can protect it. I don't know about required reading in schools but it should certainly be required reading for alll 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 & it is a little dated in certain areas such as those that refer to extinction events & the human genome project.
A calm and balanced view of biodiversity and extinction - By: Sally-Anne, 19 Apr 2004
If you watch nature programmes, Edward O Wilson is one of those intrepid biologists you see fairly frequently, looking serious & concerned, dressed for the jungle & being interviewed about deforestation, biodiversity, ecology & 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 & I found it fascinating. His writing style is not as easy & 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 potentiallly technical & 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 & 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 & describes how life clings on & returns to repopulate zones of devastation.

2) "Biodiversity Rising" covers the generation of biodiversity: how & 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 & 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 & humanity in particular, & what can be done to slow down & reverse the impoverishment trend.

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

Masterpiece - By: Karim S. Moukaddem, 02 Nov 2003
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 & 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! - By: , 26 Jan 1997

Wilson writes a great overview of biodiversity--how it is created, why it is crucial to human survival, & what we must do to preserve it. Enjoy accessible & 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 & evolutionary concepts (such as natural selection, community ecology, biogeography, & more) necessary for understanding what biodiversity is & how it is maintained. And finallly, in the last part of the book, learn about philosophies & 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!