Edward O. Wilson

Half-Earth concludes Edward O. Wilson's trilogy begun by The social conquest of Earth and The meaning of Earth's existence.

Our Planet's Fight for Life

Half-earth

Lance Willett

I enjoyed this latest book by E. O. Wilson. It both encapsulates his ideas from previous work combined with a new, higher perspective and practical ideas to solve the global biological collapse due to humanity's damage to all other living species.

The summary is "we should stop further harm to the biosphere." That would be evidence of "humanity at its most noble." Earth is our origin and destination and our forever home, we're inexorably linked to, and an integral part of, its biology.

A few favorite passages:

"Meanwhile, we thrash about... with no particular goal in mind other than economic growth, unfettered consumption, good health, and personal happiness. The impact on the rest of the biosphere is everywhere negative."

"We would be wise to find our way as quickly as possible out of the fever swamp of dogmatic religious belief and inept philosophical thought through which we still wander."

"The biosphere doesn't belong to us; we belong to it... Our physiology and our minds are adapted for life in the biosphere, which we have only just begun to understand." My take: this means we shouldn't just give up on Earth and plan to colonize other planets; this is our unique, best-fit home forever.

"A great moral question: Will we continue to degrade the planet to satisfy our own immediate needs, or will we find a way to hald the mass extinction for the sake of future generations?"

D VA

Christopher Wheeler

"A brave expression of hope, a visionary blueprint for saving the planet. Stephen Greenblatt"

Half-earth Our Planet's Fight for Life

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