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| The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth | 
| Author: Edward O. Wilson
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $15.89
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Avg. Customer Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 706212
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.9516
ASIN: B001717522
Publication Date: September 5, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The end is Nigh! November 28, 2006
7 out of 47 found this review helpful
The end is Nigh! One of the world's great scholars has finally gone gaga. He has taken to addressing an appeal to a Baptist Preacher on the perils to the biosphere! Now, it seems fairly obvious that the rainforests and the Amazon Delta are being ravaged by poor folks with too many kids. A trip to Sao Paolo will amply demonstrate the utter indifference of another religious group to the suffering of people with too many kids. The beatific air that this book presents is baffling. If everyone, even Baptist preachers will only become enamoured of microscopes and ants and how wonderful it all is, then everybody will only have two kids, stop driving their SUV and building MacMansions. Such a rational appeal, especially to a bloc that is irrational almost by definition is touching but not convincing. Further add in the other religious groups, equally hell bent on their own twisted interpretation of divine intention and the book becomes otherworldly.
 Admirable, but addresses the wrong people November 24, 2006
25 out of 37 found this review helpful
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.
 "Humbling" November 10, 2006
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
Everyone should read this book... a humbling and enlightening read! A treasure to read over and over.
 Not Really For The Average Reader November 6, 2006
9 out of 19 found this review helpful
The Creation's scope is broad and it accomplishes its purpose: to concern the reader with the welfare of Nature. It contains many inspiring, thought-provoking phrases; for example,
"The ascent to nature begins in childhood, and the science of biology is therefore ideally introduced in the earliest years. Every child is a beginning explorer naturalist. Hunter, gatherer, scout, treasure seeker, geographer, discoverer of new worlds, all these are present at the child's inner core, rudimentary perhaps but straining for expression."
There is also plenty of hard data to fully impart the tragedy of our effect on Earth and the urgency of its need for protection.
However, a great flaw is that Wilson is so easily distracted! Or rather, at least it seems to me, there are some unnecessary (if interesting) chapters. For example, "Alien Invaders from Planet Earth" details the effect of various ants on parts of the planet. An entire chapter wasn't really necessary to describe the effect of foreign species on unnatural landscapes. The following chapter, "Two Magnificent Animals," describes the wolverine and pitchfork ant. It's a cute section, but what does it really have to do with anything? Animal lovers need no motivation to see beauty in animals, and those who don't care for animals aren't going to be persuaded by these few pages. They're going to care about the previously mentioned effects on humanity.
Something that may not be a flaw, but was unwelcome to me, was the chapter on teaching biology. It contains some pretty overwhelming (to the "math-phobic") mathematical explanations, one of which was supposed to show how math can be easy. Sometimes Wilson lacks the ability to see beyond his own kind, though he tries very hard. Secondly...who is this chapter for? Teachers? I thought this book was written to pastors.
So altogether the book loses impact by not sticking to the subject, "an appeal to save life on earth." Wilson may have been trying to lengthen this rather short book, or he may simply have had some things he felt compelled to explain. Either way, by adding in these unessential chapters he waters down the effect of The Creation. It would have been much more effective to the average person if it were more compact and singular in purpose.
It's still inspiring and informative, though. Don't be ashamed to skip a little. ;)
A meaningful work October 30, 2006
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
E.O Wilson, a famous, perhaps the most famous, biologist of modern times, and at times called 'racist' and controversial here sets his sights to bridge the gap between biodiversity and faith. Other works have used biology to determine man's path(Jared Diamond) and argued that perhaps biodiversity may be colonialistic(David Quaamen) but this original book goes the other way, asking faith based people, who are growing in numbers in the world, to protect the animals, that other half of God's creation. A very moving book, a true testimony to the diversity and breadth of thought of Wilson and his immense contirbution to the field.
Seth J. Frantzman
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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