Author: Edward O. Wilson
Translator: Bang-wook Jeon
Publisher: Science Books
350 pages | 223*152mm
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>>>This book is written in Korean only. |
About This Book
From Publishers Weekly
Legendary Harvard biologist Wilson (On Human Nature; The Ants; etc.) founded
sociobiology, the controversial branch of evolutionary biology, and won the
Pulitzer Prize twice. This volume, his manifesto to the public at large, is a
meditation on the splendor of our biosphere and the dangers we pose to it. In
graceful, expressive and vigorous prose, Wilson argues that the challenge of the
new century will be "to raise the poor to a decent standard of living worldwide
while preserving as much of the rest of life as possible." For as America
consumes and the Third World tries to keep up, we lose biological diversity at
an alarming rate. But the "trajectory" of species loss depends on human choice.
If current levels of consumption continue, half the planet's remaining species
will be gone by mid-century. Wilson argues that the "great dilemma of
environmental reasoning" stems from the conflict between environmentalism and
economics, between long-term and short-term values. Conservation, he writes, is
necessary for our long-term health and prosperity. Loss of biodiversity
translates into economic losses to agriculture, medicine and the biotech
industries. But the "bottleneck" of overpopulation and overconsumption can be
safely navigated: adequate resources exist, and in the end, success or failure
depends upon an ethical decision. Global conservation will succeed or fail
depending on the cooperation between government, science and the private sector,
and on the interplay of biology, economics and diplomacy. "A civilization able
to envision God and to embark on the colonization of space," Wilson concludes,
"will surely find the way to save the integrity of this planet and the
magnificent life it harbors."
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