The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth

Thank you Edward O. Wilson for taking this burden on your shoulders; for making the plea to the religious among us to abandon the Dominionist principle that the Earth is here to be bent to humankind's will and save the biodiversity that makes our lives livable. Wilson, who was brought up southern Baptist, addresses this book to a pastor of the same faith. The book starts out as an open letter to the pastor and a plea that the biosphere, or Creation for the pastor's purposes, is in grave danger and the humans have a lot to do with it...and, can take a hand in saving it. He spends the first part of the book trying to equate the Creation and the Biosphere as one in the same; and, that whether one has faith or not, it is the most important aspect about life on Earth. After the first few chapters, Wilson really gets into the meat of the plea; he waxes eloquently about the marvels of the natural world only as Edward O. Wilson. Early on, he writes about ants, and his passion for even the smallest life forms is apparent and persuasive. As he progresses through the book, he highlights the remarkable nature of the biosphere and its biodiversity; and, he brings home why this is so important to the comfortable survival of humankind. One bit I learned: ants and termites are more responsible for turning the soil than earthworms. This is an important book that really needs to reach its target audience. As a member of the secular among us, it only preaches to the choir (though, like I said, I still learned new things from this book!); this book really needs to be put in the hands of the faithful. Unlike Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation" - which I feel is important, but will be lost on the target audience - "The Creation" has the ability to reach its target audience as it is not trying to dissuade them from their faith, but appeal to their faith in the hope that it will open their eyes to the wonder that is the biospehere, or "creation". >>>>>>><<<<<<< <br /> <br />A Guide to my Book Rating System: <br /> <br />1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper. <br />2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead. <br />3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted. <br />4 stars = Good book, but not life altering. <br />5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

This is a very readable book that goes beyond just Dr. Wilson's comments on saving the creation. There's a very good section on top-down teaching methods that can be applied to any subject. There's also an interesting discussion of how to make children more aware of the natural world, going far beyond teaching them facts. The result could be a generation that's much more aware of the world around them beyond TV and video games. The problem with the book is the way the author approaches the discussion of evolution and intelligent design. Dr. Wilson assumes that people on the side of creationism understand basic biology and the scientific method as he states the "facts" of evolution. His mistake is that most people don't understand those basic facts and readily discount them. His hope may be that he can retrain the past couple of generations as amateur naturalists and this book may be a good start.

E.O. Wilson once again has used his significant scientific expertise and his great passion for the well-being of Earth and the biotic community to stimulate care for (the) creation. By suggesting that Christians and secular scientists "meet on the near side of metaphysics," Wilson extends a hand to all who are concerned about environmental degradation, and engaged (or open to being engaged) in environmental restoration, suggesting that people of diverse views should work together to "save life on Earth." This is a most important work, which offers a vision, hope, a challenge, and an invitation to become engaged in practical projects that concretize biophilia. As a Christian, a university prof, and an active environmentalist, I have long appreciated E.O. Wilson's expertise and dedication. "The Creation" deepens that appreciation.

Wilson makes a short plea here for science and religion to join forces in defending the natural world from the increasingly destructive human race. Some of his points are wonderfully telling, such as the speech that he invents to justify our bad behaviors- and the response he crafts to explain why such justifications are nonsense. Yes, the laws of nature still apply to humans as well as Dodos. This is an important book from a prophet of science. I like his term "biophilia"- the love of living things.