Ecology and the Environment: The Mechanisms, Marrings, and Maintenance of Nature

by R.J. Berry

Ecology and the Environment: The Mechanisms, Marring, and Maintenance of Nature is the ninth title published in the Templeton Science and Religion Series, in which scientists from a wide range of fields distill their experience and knowledge into brief tours of their respective specialties. In this volume, R. J. Berry, a well-known leader in the field of ecology, describes the basic concepts in ecology and seeks to put them into a general context for a reader who lacks any scientific background.Berry explores the implications of these basic concepts and how they affect human life and the decisions we have to make, both as individuals and as members of a species which has colonized and influenced every part of the globe. He points out that we are a part of the animal world, but at the same time we are apart from it, and he makes it clear that how we relate to our environment affects the quality of our life—indeed it may affect our very survival. Going well beyond a simple introduction of concepts, the book goes on to explore wider questions about the nature of humanity and how human ecology relates to humanness. Berry proposes that we are more than machines or even advanced apes—we are Homo divinus, transformed from an organism descended from the same stock as the apes but qualitatively different and able to relate to a creator God. The book argues that those who conclude otherwise are neglecting relevant data.the kind that are increasingly being addressed by national and international environmental agencies. In order to grasp the full scope of these issues and to more fully understand the ubiquitous news headlines concerning environmental matters, a reader would do well to start with Ecology and the Environment.

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert James "Sam" Berry FRSE FSB is a British geneticist, naturalist and Christian. He was professor of genetics at University College London between 1974-2000. He was president from 1983 to 1986 of the Linnean Society, the British Ecological Society and the European Ecological Federation. A Christian, Berry has spoken out in favour of evolutionary creationism, and served as a lay member of the Church of England's General Synod and president of Christians in Science. He gave the 1997–98 Glasgow Gifford Lectures entitled Gods, Genes, Greens and Everything.