E.O. Wilson's The Creation Released Today
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO 
on 09. 6.06
Harvard professor and Pulitzer-prize winning author Edward O. Wilson has never shied away from controversy in his storied career. With the release of his 1975 book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, Wilson both created a new field of scientific study, and angered many with his analysis of human society in terms of the non-human (primarily insect) social systems he studied. His 1992 book The Diversity of Life, considered by many his best, argued that a human-created biodiversity crisis was underway that would lead to levels of species extinction not seen since the dinosaurs died off. In his new book, The Creation: A Meeting of Science and Religion, Wilson dives into yet another area of heated conflict, and makes the case for an alliance between secular humanists and people of faith in order to avert mass extinctions. Labeling Wilson "our modern-day Thoreau," Publishers Weekly (subscription required) praises the new book's argument for a moral obligation to preserve biodiversity, as well as the author's use of a unique literary style for a non-fiction work:
Couched in the form of letters to a Southern Baptist pastor, the Pulitzer Prize–winning entomologist pleads for the salvation of biodiversity, arguing that both secular humanists like himself and believers in God acknowledge the glory of nature and can work together to save it. The "depth and complexity of living Nature still exceeds human imagination," he asserts (somewhere between 1.5 million and 1.8 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms have been discovered to date), and most of the world around us remains unknowable, as does God. Each species functions as a self-contained universe with its own evolutionary history, its own genetic structure and its own ecological role. Human life is tangled inextricably in this intricate and fragile web. Understanding these small universes, Wilson says, can foster human life. Wilson convincingly demonstrates that such rich diversity offers a compelling moral argument from biology for preserving the "Creation." Wilson passionately leads us by the hand into an amazing and abundantly diverse natural order, singing its wonders and its beauty and captivating our hearts and imaginations with nature's mysterious ways.Though secular in his own outlook, Wilson's Southern Baptist childhood and his "provisional deist" approach to religion have opened doors for him among Christian believers in the past. With his own success, and the growth of green consciousness in the US, Wilson, in what he describes as potentially "foolish optimism," believes that bridges can be built between disparate groups in the face of immense ecological challenges. ::Yahoo News via Hugg
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Meet Auden Schendler, Author of Getting Green Done
- Sleep In Late to Lose Weight
- Rainy Day? Entertain the Kids with Green Activities for Under $25
- Fire Up Your Metabolism and Burn More Calories with Herbs
- 8 Fun Green Ways to Manage Stress (Kissing is One of Them)
- Is Your Kitchen Garden Toxic? 5 Ways To Fix Polluted Soil For Safe Homegrown Food
Wilson's "letter" was considered recently by Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. The article is accessible here: "Ready for This? Harvard's E. O. Wilson Writes to an Imaginary Southern Baptist Pastor".
Dear Editor
God has put me here at this Giant New York Power Authority (NYPA) Power Dam to see that is doesn't continue to destroy the Giant Fish and to start a World changing hydro power system ! At 4 years old I saw the worlds largest Eel head floating at NYPA power dam in the Massena Saint Lawrence River. At that time, I left my first comment about the killing of the Eel at the visitor center and I even tried to explain that Water Wheels were a better way to the man on the giant generator. In 6th grade on a field trip in Tim Henasee's Class Colton Peirrpont Central School, Dale Robar and I saw the worlds largest Musky at the same place I had seen the Eel, with its tail trailing behind by a string of skin. Seconds after that, the largest bass I had ever seen had been hit by a giant turbine and was flopping in the water. Both Dale and I left comments in the visitors book at the Massena NYPA Power Dams vistor center ! I have tried to retrieve those comments, without success, I take it NYPA does not want me to have the coments. So what is the sense in leaving your name and comments in their history of visitors book, if you cant access them? Im 49 now, this year 2006!
A giant Saint Lawrence River Aquarium Fish ladder designed for veiwing the Fish that dont get butchered by the menacing 32 giant turbines blades of NYPA and Canada ! I am a Mechanical Engineer and design Water Wheels,this WaterWheel will load and unload faster and uses the whole stream for generating Electricity, with major differences in the efficency and performance over the old Water Wheels from the past, and the Water Wheels are Fish Friendly. The design works in Undershot, 1/4 shot and Breast type applications, and comes with rotational force calculations that prove it's more efficient than turbines, even on large dams.
I've even got a great Wind and Wave Power Plant design, bigger and better than those giant toothpick Turbines on Tug Hill Windfarm, that cost 1.5 million to setup one and only bring in $8000 a year.It will take 187.5 maintanance free years to just pay for itself, now thats a long time! So I'm not a great Writer. But I AM an Inventor and Master Builder. With new Water Wheels, and the latest and greats most powerful Wind and Wave Energy power plants, that can be BUILT HERE and operated from here, Many, many, Villages, Towns and cities, owe their beginnings and growth to Waterfalls that powered Water Wheels. Societies thrived around these Waterfalls and Water Wheels, . (Industries Cultural beginning). Wind mills made the step into the 21st Century and Thousand of Jobs will be created with the implamentation of this newly designed Water Wheel.. We would like to start producing Jobs and Renewable Energy. All states and countries have at least one site. Their are many available usable sites. A new Water Wheel hydro electric implemented will create clean safe energy, jobs and a more peaceful World !
We need your help !
No-Waste Society Systems
235 Barnhart RD
Massena NY 13662
phone 315 764 8699
Darrell Dammen copyright
Renewable Energy Developer,
Fish Friendly Water Wheels that are more efficient than hydro turbines. New
latest and greatest most powerful Wind and Wave energy.