The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth

Thank you Edward O. Wilson for taking this burden on your shoulders; for making the plea to the religious among us to abandon the Dominionist principle that the Earth is here to be bent to humankind's will and save the biodiversity that makes our lives livable.Wilson, who was brought up southern Baptist, addresses this book to a pastor of the same faith. The book starts out as an open letter to the pastor and a plea that the biosphere, or Creation for the pastor's purposes, is in grave danger and the humans have a lot to do with it...and, can take a hand in saving it. He spends the first part of the book trying to equate the Creation and the Biosphere as one in the same; and, that whether one has faith or not, it is the most important aspect about life on Earth.After the first few chapters, Wilson really gets into the meat of the plea; he waxes eloquently about the marvels of the natural world only as Edward O. Wilson. Early on, he writes about ants, and his passion for even the smallest life forms is apparent and persuasive. As he progresses through the book, he highlights the remarkable nature of the biosphere and its biodiversity; and, he brings home why this is so important to the comfortable survival of humankind. One bit I learned: ants and termites are more responsible for turning the soil than earthworms.This is an important book that really needs to reach its target audience. As a member of the secular among us, it only preaches to the choir (though, like I said, I still learned new things from this book!); this book really needs to be put in the hands of the faithful. Unlike Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation" - which I feel is important, but will be lost on the target audience - "The Creation" has the ability to reach its target audience as it is not trying to dissuade them from their faith, but appeal to their faith in the hope that it will open their eyes to the wonder that is the biospehere, or "creation".>>>>>>><<<<<<<A Guide to my Book Rating System:1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

This is an interesting book, as all of Wilson's books are interesting. I like the story about the fire ants that plagued the islands in the Caribbean some centuries ago and the paleoforensics employed to figure out what happened; in fact I like all of Wilson's stories about ants. Ants are fascinating, and ants will be here long after we are gone.I also like the idea of trying to preserve as much biodiversity as possible. Save the rain forests, by all means. Save the tigers and the gorillas, the elephants and the snow leopard.But it's not going to happen. Wilson is in prayerful mode. You can tell that by the very fact that he addresses this plea to a protestant clergyman as an author's conceit (partly in remembrance of his Baptist childhood). His tone, try as he might, will be taken by some as condescending, which it unavoidably is. Wilson is sensitive to the criticism he has gotten over the years, especially from those who think his sociobiology is a blueprint for a return to eugenics. So he is overly polite, overly indulgent with all the references to the Bible, to what he and the clergyman have in common. He is bending over backwards.But it will never work. Biodiversity means little to the average clergyman. Saving the planet and its resources may mean a little more since even though evangelical Christians are certain that the rapture is coming, they are uncertain as to when. It could be tomorrow; it could be a few years away. So let's not dirty up the waters too much, let's not kill all the honeybees, let's scrub the coal smokestacks; in short let's not allow an environmental holocaust, at least not yet.This is a short book, the kind of book that eminent persons are allowed to write and see published near the end of their lives, the kind of book that speaks of public service, that adds some further meaning to the author's existence. In a way this is similar to Consilience (1998) in which Wilson called for a meeting of the minds between the hard sciences and the soft ones, between those in the humanities and those in the labs, for reductionism to embrace poetry or vice-versa. The same idea applies here: people of faith should join people of science and work together to preserve the biosphere.However, instead of addressing clergymen I think it would have been better and more natural for Wilson to address heads of state and chief executive officers of giant corporations since they are the ones most directly responsible for the ecological disaster staring us in the face, and they are the ones who can do something about it. Wilson writes, "Humanity doesn't need a moon base or a manned trip to Mars. We need an expedition to planet Earth...." Clearly such a statement would be better aimed at the Congress of the United States than at its clergymen. Wilson indicates in this book that he is not much for genetic engineering or for saving humanity by moving into outer space. He writes, "...human biology and emotions will stay the same far into the future, because our immensely complicated cerebral cortex can tolerate little tinkering..." (p. 28)I also think it is unfortunate and even obsequious that Wilson calls what he wants saved "The Creation" when it is obvious that he does not consider life on earth a creation at all and in fact states directly that life on earth evolved from nonliving matter and energy. This sop to the creationists and Intelligent Designers is somewhat offset by his argument against Intelligent Design in the last chapter.This book could also have been addressed to young students and teachers of biology, which in fact is what he effectively does in chapters 12-15 which are titled, "The Fundamental Laws of Biology," "Exploration of a Little-Known Planet," "How to Learn Biology and How to Teach It," and "How to Raise a Naturalist."Putting aside the artificial spin that Wilson employs, this book is really about "three problems that affect everyone: the decline of the living environment, the inadequacy of scientific education, and the moral confusions caused by the exponential growth of biology." (p. 165) Wilson addresses the Christian clergy because "In order to solve these problems...it will be necessary to find common ground on which the powerful forces of religion and science can be joined." (p. 165)More in keeping with the Wilson I know and greatly admire, typified in his book On Human Nature (1978) which won the Pulitzer Prize, is this from page 28: "There are still some thinkers around the world...who wish to base moral law on the sacred scripture of Iron Age desert kingdoms while using technology to conduct tribal wars--of course with the presumed blessing of their respective tribal gods."I think the average clergyman, here and elsewhere, is still in the thrall of his tribal god, and not likely to listen to Professor Wilson, regardless of how politely and diplomatically he presents his case. Too bad.This is clearly not one of Wilson's better books. I might even say that he has lost his intellectual compass. I hope he finds it.

Anyone worried about the climate crisis should read this book. The author is a visionary who saw these problems before others did.

I am a classroom teacher with 12 years full time service in public schools. I highly recommend "The Creation" for public school classroomsDr. Wilson's books are thoroughly researched and well documented scientific works. They are an excellent model for teaching students how to "do" science. He follows the Scientific Method from Observation to Presentation. "The Creation: An Appeal to Life on Earth" would have received a 5 star rating except for sloppy proofing. On page 57 (if I am remembering correctly) about 2/3 down is the quote from "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin 1859 that omits 3 key words "by the Creator". Dr. Wilson presented a Lecture at USAO in Chickasha, OK in March 2009. As a past USAO professor, I was invited to the reception in his honor that evening. I was accompanied by a student who during the Q&A after the lecture ask "Was that omission just an oversight?" Dr. Wilson had a gracious response and challenged my student to cite his reference. He responded I have Darwin's book 1859 on my iPhone Kindle. Dr. Wilson thanked him for his question, but noted the Kindle was probably incorrect. My student took my hardbound copy 1859 and with the last question confirmed that the hardbound was exactly like the Kindle. Dr. Wilson said he would follow up and issue a public apology if the words "by the Creator" had been omitted.

As yet have not read it fully but seems interesting what have read so far.

Excellent book

Anything by E O Wilson is worth reading, particularly in areas of controversy such as creationism and the life of the planet.

With the current environmental crises. I thought first of all this book was a must read,especially for myself, as I am passionate advocate for saving our environment and wildlife.This is why I bought it. I give talks on Brown Bears and the environment to schools.And I thought it might be helpful in putting across the seriousness of our environmental situation toclasses. However this book is about mr Wilson's letters to some Pastor making an appeal to him.What the point of writing to a pastor about the wonders of science and biology is suppose to achieveI do not know. It goes too much into biology can work with religion if you ask me. And he talks like he trying to persuade thepastor to focus on environmental issues, like that would ever work. I mean mr Wilson maybe a greatbiologist but his idea that he can change the thinking of a Pastor through scientific facts is BS.And because its written to the Pastor he writes the book like he is teaching a kid basic biology lessons haha.Its not really what I was looking for. A book more for the passionate about nature lovers would haveprobably been written better and would have not had to use such silly arguments, such as pastorwe both agree that creation is a wonderful thing blah blah blah, booooring!!!!

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