A fine memoir by one of America's foremost evolutionary biologists.
E. O. Wilson defines "biophilia" as 'the innate tendency [in human
beings] to focus on life and lifelike process. To an extent still
undervalued in philosophy and religion, our existence depends on
this propensity, our spirit is woven from it, hopes rise on its
currents.' Scientifically demonstrating this human propensity would
be a task beyond the scope of today's biology, and Wilson wisely
eschews that course. Instead, he relies on his own experiences and
feelings as a field biologist, cleverly interweaving them with the
facts, history, and philosophy of evolutionary biology and an
eclectic set of cultural observations.--Paul R. Ehrlich "Natural
History "
E. O. Wilson is the entomologist Curator of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard. His science writing for the general
public has won him the Pulitzer Prize and his scientific
publications have won him the highest honors American science can
bestow. He is well equipped to engage a subject dear to
nature-lovers which until now has not been identified as a species
trait--"biophilia". The freshness of Wilson's approach lies in its
freedom from the obsessions of the environmentalist
movement...While he shares the conservationist ethic of
environmentalists, and seeks to impart its practical imperatives,
he eschews cultism...Let this highly readable book then be
commended to all biophiliacs and technocrats.--Hiram Caton "Times
Literary Supplement "
The book consists of a set of nine essays. Although they are
masterpieces of prose style, they more effectively illustrate
Wilson's own biophilia than his contention that biophilia exists as
a general human trait...Wilson moves fluidly among minute
observations of life forms ranging from leaf-cutter ants to birds
of paradise, artfully pausing for a philosophical reflection here
and a folksy anecdote there.--John Wilkes "Los Angeles Times "
There's more to this unbuttoned and intellectually playful book
than its plea for a conservation of ethic and the preservation of
animal species in all their diversity. We get, for example, several
autobiographical glimpses into the background of Professor
Wilson...We see Professor Wilson as a boy growing up in the Florida
panhandle...Elsewhere he astonishes us with a description of the
mating dance of the male Emperor of Germany bird of paradise, and
the degree of genetic congruity between pygmy chimpanzees and Homo
Sapiens.--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt "New York Times "
"Biophilia" is an immensely readable book. Wilson is a master
storyteller, skillful at evoking exotic scenes.
Wilson's own empathy with things illuminates these essays with
fresh perceptions of everyday matters...They are masterpieces of
prose style.
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