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"Perhaps more than any other scientist of our century, Edward O. Wilson has scrutinized animals in their natural settings, tweezing out the dynamics of their social organization, their relationship with their environments, and their behavior, not only for what it tells us about the animals themselves, but for what it can tell us about human nature and our own behavior. He has brought the fascinating and sometimes surprising results of these studies to general readers through a remarkable collection of books, including The Diversity of Life, The Ants, On Human Nature, and Sociobiology. The grace and precision with which he writes of seemingly complex topics has earned him two Pulitzer prizes, and the admiration of scientists and general readers around the world.In Search of Nature presents for the first time a collection of the seminal short writings of Edward O. Wilson, addressing in brief and eminently readable form the themes that have actively engaged this remarkable intellect throughout his career.""The central theme of the essays is that wild nature and human nature are closely interwoven. I argue that the only way to make complete sense of either is by examining both closely and together as products of evolution.... Human behavior is seen not just as the product of recorded history, ten thousand years recent, but of deep history, the combined genetic and cultural changes that created humanity over hundreds of thousands of years. We need this longer view, I believe, not only to understand our species, but more firmly to secure its future.The book is composed of three sections. ""Animal Nature, Human Nature"" ranges from serpents to sharks to sociality in ants. It asks how and why the universal aversion to snakes might have evolved in humans and primates, marvels at the diversity of the world's 350 species of shark and how their adaptive success has affected our conception of the world, and admonishes us to ""be careful of little lives""-to see in the construction of insect social systems ""another grand experiment in evolution for our delectation.""The Patterns of Nature"" probes at the foundation of sociobiology, asking what is the underlying genetic basis of social behavior, and what that means for the future of the human species. Beginning with altruism and aggression, the two poles of behavior, these essays describe how science, like art, adds new information to the accumulated wisdom, establishing new patterns of explanation and inquiry. In ""The Bird of Paradise: The Hunter and the Poet,"" the analytic and synthetic impulses-exemplified in the sciences and the humanities-are called upon to give full definition to the human prospect.""Nature's Abundance"" celebrates biodiversity, explaining its fundamental importance to the continued existence of humanity. From ""The Little Things That Run the World""-invertebrate species that make life possible for everyone and everything else-to the emergent belief of many scientists in the human species' possible innate affinity for other living things, known as biophilia, Wilson sets forth clear and compelling reasons why humans should concern themselves with species loss. ""Is Humanity Suicidal?"" compares the environmentalist's view with that of the exemptionalist, who holds that since humankind is transcendent in intelligence and spirit, our species must have been released from the iron laws of ecology that bind all other species. Not without optimism, Wilson concludes that we are smart enough and have time enough to avoid an environmental catastrophe of civilization-threatening dimensions-if we are willing both to redirect our science and technology and to reconsider our self-image as a species.In Search of Nature is a lively and accessible introduction to the writings of one of the most brilliant scientists of the 20th century. Imaginatively illustrated by noted artist Laura Southworth, it is a book all readers will treasure."
评论 (5)
出版社周刊评论
In this collection of essays, which reprises the themes of his scientific career, Pulitzer Prize winner Wilson (The Ants and On Human Nature) contrasts wild nature with human nature as two similar products of evolution, focusing on both genetic and cultural change over an immense period of time. The first section explores various species' success at adapting, including a discussion of how the universal aversion to snakes might have evolved in primates and a look at ants' remarkable social systems. In the second section, Wilson, entomology curator of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, deals with altruism and aggression, introducing the concept of sociobiology. He argues that culture is created and shaped by biological processes that may be altered in response to cultural change. In the final section, he explores biodiversity's fundamental importance to the continued existence of humanity. Challenging and provocative, these essays have been published previously in popular and scientific journals. 10,000 first printing. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus评论
A dozen essays on familiar Wilson themes: social species, biodiversity, sociobiology, along with personal reflections and thoughts for the future. Readers familiar with Wilson's autobiographical writings (Naturalist, 1994) will find him once more revisiting his Florida youth and fascination with snakes. Indeed the first set of essays on snakes, sharks, and ants have the kind of creepy-crawly appeal Natalie Angier capitalized on in Loathsome Creatures. In contrast to Angier, Wilson truly respects and admires the critters. Of course, being the quintessential ant man, Wilson is particularly absorbing in describing the enormous variety, antiquity, and success of these social insects, largely based on intricate divisions of labor and cooperative sharing. Behavioral themes continue to dominate the essays, as Wilson describes courting behavior among birds of paradise, a view of nature as seen by termite society, and the respective roles of altruism and aggression in primates. The latter leads to a discussion of kin selection and the possible role of homosexuals in human society, as well as other sociobiological ideas. Wilson is anxious to correct what he sees as ``the dangerous trap'' of sociobiology, namely, the naturalistic fallacy which asserts that what is (in any given society), is what should be. Later, Wilson will amplify this theme in a discussion of gene-culture interaction, emphasizing the diversity possible within the boundaries set by the human genome. The concluding essays celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of species and the dangers evident in human domination and worldwide loss of habitat. Having sounded the warning, Wilson is also hopeful that the role of naturalists will grow in importance to complement the powerful contributions of cell and molecular biologists. For those new to Wilson, a good gloss on his work and thought. For the rest, really only a reprise.
《书目》(Booklist)书评
Reading Wilson is always a deeply satisfying experience because he conveys, quite lyrically, the wonder he feels in observing nature, both in its tangible forms and in the abstract. Here, in these vivid essays, Wilson elucidates two main themes: his theory, based on the study of parallels between human beings and animals, that "culture is ultimately a biological product" ; and his belief in biophilia, "the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms." Wilson elaborates on these two resonant propositions with revealing anecdotes and facts about various species, especially ants, who have been around for 100 million years--enough time to generate 9,500 species and perfect their social organization. Then, in "The Serpent," Wilson links his biological view of culture to his belief in our deep connection to nature, and articulates a brilliant interpretation of our complex and mystical association with animals in general and the snake in particular, a cosmic affiliation that has shaped art and religion all over the planet. (Reviewed Sept. 1, 1996)1559632151Donna Seaman
Choice 评论
In this delightful collection of 12 essays, Wilson, a very prolific and insightful writer, discusses two primal and elusive principles: wild nature and human nature. He has chosen to examine each closely and then together as products of evolution; he has done a masterful job of integrating information in both domains. He draws upon familiar animals (ants, serpents, sharks, hyenas) as examples of nature and extrapolates them into human nature. He explores altruism, aggression, culture, and evolution as windows on human nature. An especially poignant essay on biophilia and the environmental ethic decries the loss of biodiversity, extols the innate rights of species, and indicates that the future of humanity is predicated upon protecting biodiversity. Wilson concludes with an essay on the suicidal nature of humanity based on the plethora of environmental damages we are inflicting on nature. He writes in a lyrical and perceptive style, and his prose is engrossing and meaningful. A must for everyone, but especially for biologists, environmentalists, nature lovers, and futurists. General; undergraduates through professionals. P. E. Lutz University of North Carolina at Greensboro
《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评
A compilation of a dozen journal articles and book chapters published between 1975 and 1993, this collection is grouped into three thematic sections dealing with the importance of the preservation of biodiversity to our physical and emotional well-being, the deep-seated interconnectedness of animal nature and human nature (one essay deals with why humans display a universal fear of snakes), and the underlying genetic basis of human social behavior. The writing of this Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard zoologist (The Diversity of Life, LJ 11/1/92) is exquisite, crystalline, precise, and eminently readable; this is nature writing at its best. A caveat: a note in the acknowledgments indicates that the essays have been brought up-to-date, but glaring anachronismse.g., "The conservation of shark species hasn't begun"could mislead the lay reader. Recommended for public and academic libraries.Lynn C. Badger, Univ. of Florida Lib., Gainesville (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.