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Publisher’s
write-up:
‘In this book a master scientist tells the
great story of how life on earth evolved. E.O. Wilson eloquently describes how
the species of the world became diverse, and why the threat to this diversity
today is beyond the scope of anything we have known before. In an extensive new
foreword for this edition, Professor Wilson addresses the explosion of the
field of conservation biology and takes a clear-eyed look at the work still to
be done.’
The Diversity of Life is a text from the
naturalist and biologist, Edward O. Wilson. The book has three aspects to it,
the first exploring the origins of life in landmass (the author took the
example of Krakatoa), and then explained the various aspects of biodiversity
before moving on the human impact on biodiversity.
The author elaborates the importance of
biodiversity – and how it helps the ecosystem at large survive. The book is
high on detail, at times a tad too high. This was an issue considering I have
no background in biology and I last heard words like phylum during high
school biology. It was difficult to understand all aspects of the second part
of the book. There were illustrations to support the reader but that was not of
much help.
However, I enjoyed the third part – mainly
because I could relate to it, when the author spoke of the human impact. The
author analysed the impact humans have had since the beginning of the race –
the impact of their arrival in North America, Australia, etc. which had a
direct correlation with a loss of biodiversity. He also explored various
economic challenges that we face in the quest to preserve biodiversity – as it
is often a choice between livelihoods of people and life of other organisms.
The challenge is amplified by the fact that most of the biodiversity is in the
developing world and it is a difficult point to sell to not industrialise in
the same manner as the developed nations of the past (the author did suggest
alternatives).
I found it interesting that our habits when it
comes to food has not changed for centuries – and this is an example the author
gives as a benefit of exploring biodiversity – as there are several varieties
of food which provide additional nutrients, are easier to grow / rear (in case
of livestock), etc.
This is a highly informative book that could be
enjoyed by people who have some background in the subject. In my case, I do not
have any background in biology except up to high school and thus, that was also
the downside of the book, that is, this book felt like reading a textbook. Also,
this book goes back and forth when it comes to evolution / origin of life and I
might have personally preferred if the author had approached a more
chronological approach while presenting the facts which would have been easier
for me to follow.
I would
also need to mention that the book was published in 1992 and thus, the writer
was unusually optimistic about politicians’ tendency to accept facts regarding
climate change. The author took a pragmatic approach in what he believed were
solutions – acknowledging that it is difficult to balance economic development
and biodiversity – but believed that politicians regardless of their political
view would see the threat of climate change and three decades on, we know that
the opposite is true.
Considering the above, I would award the book a
rating of six on ten.
Rating –
6/10
Have a
nice day,
Andy
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