Edward O. Wilson: Biophilia / The Diversity of Life / Naturalist

by Edward O. Wilson, David Quammen (Editor)

Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Edward O. Wilson is a renowned scientist who is also a gifted writer and storyteller. Boundlessly adventurous and intellectually curious, Wilson has ventured big hypotheses on subjects small and large—from the function of ant pheromones to the meaning of human existence— transforming our sense of the natural world and our place in it. This Library of America volume, the first in a two-volume edition gathering his most influential and inspirational work for nonspecialist readers, has been prepared in consultation with Wilson by David Quammen, one of America’s leading science and nature writers, who provides an introduction.

Why do we prefer some landscapes over others? Why do we have pets? Why do snakes recur in our dreams and mythologies? These are some of the thought-provoking questions that animate the speculative, often lyrical essays in Biophilia (1984), a short book that overflows with fascinating revelations about the evolutionary origins of our ideas about life, the environment, and wilderness. More personal than anything he had written to that point, Biophilia recounts Wilson’s experiences as a field biologist in Suriname, New Guinea, Cuba, and elsewhere, and marks the beginnings of a “conservation ethic” at the heart of his later public work.

Profusely illustrated and filled on every page with astonishing findings and facts, The Diversity of Life (1992) offers a magisterial tour of global biodiversity—its origins, evolution, and now-imperiled prospects. Wilson shows us the marvels of the biosphere, from its charismatic megafauna to its millions of distinct species of invertebrates to its primitive single-celled archaea, thriving where life would seem impossible. And while countless creatures and the intricate ecosystems they inhabit take center stage—busily reproducing, preying and being preyed upon, camouflaging themselves, hybridizing, adapting, specializing, colonizing, and always coevolving—the fragility of these marvels in the face of the destructive power of Homo sapiens is Wilson’s core subject.

Now world-famous as a champion of wilderness in an age of catastrophic climate change and mass extinction, Wilson spent his youth in the woods. His generous and wide-ranging autobiography, Naturalist (1994), shows how he came to care about the diverse natural world and how the solitary wanderings of his Southern boyhood led him to a career in science. The story takes him from Alabama to Harvard, through unexplored wild places all over the world, from one audacious experiment to another, and through bitter interdisciplinary struggles and public controversies, never losing sight of the spirit of curiosity with which it began. It is an inspiration to other naturalists, armchair and professional alike, to pursue their own adventures of discovery.

Genres: Science, Nature, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir

1150 pages, Hardcover

Published March 9, 2021

About the author

Edward Osborne Wilson, sometimes credited as E.O. Wilson, was an American biologist, researcher, theorist, and author. His biological specialty is myrmecology, a branch of entomology. A two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, Wilson is known for his career as a scientist, his advocacy for environmentalism, and his secular-humanist ideas pertaining to religious and ethical matters. He was the Pellegrino University Research Professor in Entomology for the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is a Humanist Laureate of the International Academy of Humanism.

Reviews

[Taveri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was three books in one:
· Biophilia (1984)
· Diversity of Life (1992)
· Naturalist (1994)

The last was autobiographical and the middle was the Most Important Book, in regards to Life on Earth, I have read. Separately on GoodReads I have provided brief reviews for those two.

[Adam Gossman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thing of beauty

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

E.O.WILSON is an omnibus collection published by the non-profit Library of America. Three of his early seminal non-fiction works appear in a beautiful edition complete with photographs and illustrations, all edited and introduced by science writer David Quammen.
Multiple award winning scientist Wilson was a rare breed. He lived for field work and used the odds and ends from often disparate notebooks and years of laboratory research, experimentation and observation to formulate theories. He nurtured friendships with students not only mentoring them but learning from them and graciously crediting them for their original ideas. He communicated with experts in the varied departments and even other colleges and credited them by name for their input and inspirations to his incredible achievements.Even though a solitary field researcher most of his formative years, he grew to become a world renowned scientist by standing side by side and sharing , not climbing up and over the “competition.” He was considered a specialist in “ants. “ But he became a leading voice for conservation of all species; he was the proponent for biodiversity.
BIOPHILIA was a collection of essays, often a difficult read; dry. At times obtuse,albeit brief.
THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE, fact filled and statistic-laden was supported by charts and illustrations. It seemed repetitive and a bit disorganized at times but the cumulative effect was excellent. Eye opening.
NATURALIST was worth the price of admission all by itself. This autobiographical piece highlights a shy introvert’s coming of age and reputation in a readable story form that actually ties up and often explains the earlier two books as well as the man.
A second volume/collection of Wilson is in the planning stages.

[cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish my four stars could be unqualified. But following Wilson's death, his correspondence with J. Philippe Rushton was publicized, and it was made clear that Wilson was incredibly racist--a fact that would've been obvious to anyone remotely paying attention to his anti-theism and to his genocidal arguments in Half-Earth. For more information on Wilson's "scientific" racism: https://magazine.scienceforthepeople....