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Edward O. Wilson

The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth Hardcover – Deckle Edge, September 17, 2006

by Edward O. Wilson (Author)

81 customer reviews

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In this daring work, Edward O. Wilson proposes an alliance between science and religion to save Earth's vanishing biodiversity.

Dear Pastor:

We have not met, yet I feel I know you well enough to call you friend. First of all, we grew up in the same faith. Although I no longer belong to that faith, I am confident that if we met and spoke privately of our deepest beliefs, it would be in a spirit of mutual respect and goodwill. I write to you now for your counsel and help. Let us see if we can, and you are willing, to meet on the near side of metaphysics in order to deal with the real world we share. I suggest that we set aside our differences in order to save the Creation. The defense of living Nature is a universal value. It doesn't rise from nor does it promote any religious or ideological dogma. Rather, it serves without discrimination the interests of all humanity.

Pastor, we need your help. The Creation―living Nature―is in deep trouble.

The Creation is E. O. Wilson's most important work since the publications of Sociobiology and Biophilia. Like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, it is a book about the fate of the earth and the survival of our planet. Yet while Carson was specifically concerned with insecticides and the ecological destruction of our natural resources, Wilson, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, attempts his new social revolution by bridging the seemingly irreconcilable worlds of fundamentalism and science. Like Carson, Wilson passionately concerned about the state of the world, draws on his own personal experiences and expertise as an entomologist, and prophesies that half the species of plants and animals on Earth could either have gone or at least are fated for early extinction by the end of our present century.

Astonishingly, The Creation is not a bitter, predictable rant against fundamentalist Christians or deniers of Darwin. Rather, Wilson, a leading "secular humanist," draws upon his own rich background as a boy in Alabama who "took the waters," and seeks not to condemn this new generations of Christians but to address them on their own terms. Conceiving the book as an extended letter to a southern Baptist minister, Wilson, in stirring language that can evoke Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail," tells this everyman minister how, in fact, the world really came to be. He pleads with these men of the cloth to understand the cataclysmic damage that is destroying our planet and asks for their help in preventing the destruction of our Earth before it is too late. Never a pessimist, Wilson avers that there are solutions that may yet save the planet, and believes that the vision that he presents in The Creation is one that both scientists and pastors can accept, and work on together in spite of their fundamental ideological differences.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. With his usual eloquence, patience and humor, Wilson, our modern-day Thoreau, adds his thoughts to the ongoing conversation between science and religion. Couched in the form of letters to a Southern Baptist pastor, the Pulitzer Prize–winning entomologist pleads for the salvation of biodiversity, arguing that both secular humanists like himself and believers in God acknowledge the glory of nature and can work together to save it. The "depth and complexity of living Nature still exceeds human imagination," he asserts (somewhere between 1.5 million and 1.8 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms have been discovered to date), and most of the world around us remains unknowable, as does God. Each species functions as a self-contained universe with its own evolutionary history, its own genetic structure and its own ecological role. Human life is tangled inextricably in this intricate and fragile web. Understanding these small universes, Wilson says, can foster human life. Wilson convincingly demonstrates that such rich diversity offers a compelling moral argument from biology for preserving the "Creation." Wilson passionately leads us by the hand into an amazing and abundantly diverse natural order, singing its wonders and its beauty and captivating our hearts and imaginations with nature's mysterious ways. 25 illus. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Famed entomologist, humanist thinker, and cogent writer Wilson issues a forthright call for unity between religion and science in order to save the "creation," or living nature, which is in "deep trouble." Addressing his commonsensical yet ardent discourse to "Dear Pastor," he asks why religious leaders haven't made protecting the creation part of their mission. Forget about life's origins, Wilson suggests, and focus on the fact that while nature achieves "sustainability through complexity," human activities are driving myriad species into extinction, thus depleting the biosphere and jeopardizing civilization. Wilson celebrates individual species, each a "masterpiece of biology," and acutely analyzes the nexus between nature and the human psyche. In the book's frankest passages, he neatly refutes fantasies about humanity's ability to re-create nature's intricate web, and deplores the use of religious belief (God will take care of it) as an impediment to conservation. Wilson's eloquent defense of nature, insights into our resistance to environmental preservation, and praise of scientific inquiry coalesce in a blueprint for a renaissance in biology reminiscent of the technological advances engendered by the space race. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product details

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (September 17, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393062171
ISBN-13: 978-0393062175
Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 81 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #976,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1633 in Science & Religion
- #1721 in Environmental Engineering (Books)
- #3723 in Environmental Science (Books)

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Bill Patterson

Great Resource for Science Classrooms

February 20, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I am a classroom teacher with 12 years full time service in public schools. I highly recommend "The Creation" for public school classrooms
Dr. Wilson's books are thoroughly researched and well documented scientific works. They are an excellent model for teaching students how to "do" science. He follows the Scientific Method from Observation to Presentation. "The Creation: An Appeal to Life on Earth" would have received a 5 star rating except for sloppy proofing. On page 57 (if I am remembering correctly) about 2/3 down is the quote from "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin 1859 that omits 3 key words "by the Creator". Dr. Wilson presented a Lecture at USAO in Chickasha, OK in March 2009. As a past USAO professor, I was invited to the reception in his honor that evening. I was accompanied by a student who during the Q&A after the lecture ask "Was that omission just an oversight?" Dr. Wilson had a gracious response and challenged my student to cite his reference. He responded I have Darwin's book 1859 on my iPhone Kindle. Dr. Wilson thanked him for his question, but noted the Kindle was probably incorrect. My student took my hardbound copy 1859 and with the last question confirmed that the hardbound was exactly like the Kindle. Dr. Wilson said he would follow up and issue a public apology if the words "by the Creator" had been omitted.

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Mary Z Kohak

Excellent, readable book: genius bilogist explains & appeals for changed approach to Earth and her creatures

August 6, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

a beautiful, articulate, informative and readable book in which this lovely genius biologist explains the need (and appeals) for a radical change in humans' relating to Earth and her creatures. Do read it! and then give it to five people. :-)

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hawkman

Hard to argue with the preeminent biologist. Argues with ...

December 20, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Hard to argue with the preeminent biologist. Argues with a "pastor". Not entirely convincing from a theological perspective. But the passion is undeniable.

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Bibliophile-22

Good content, but disappointing theologically - nothing new here.

November 15, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Let me be clear, E. O. Wilson is a gifted writer, a passionate scientist, and positive force for science and social change, but this work is not his strongest. Here's why: while the content was supposed to be geared towards a generic or un-named Baptist minister, the only real illusions to religion happen rather early in the text, and then at the beginning of each chapter beginning "Dear pastor" or something to that extent, and then proceeds into why conservation and biodiversity is important on a global scale. His early comparisons to the "creation" and preservation thereof as something man is divinely commanded to carry out is a refreshing take on the Genesis accounts and standard "take dominion over the earth" narrative so common in Christianity, but I felt as if the text was too dismissive of religious fundamentalists - no matter how ignorant or incorrect their scientific understanding.

If you've read some of his other works (Naturalist, Letter to a Young Scientist, etc.) I'm not sure there will be much earth shattering information in this text - but it's a quick read, a rather short book, and there are some good anecdotes and a few positive theological notes, but sadly not many. I guess in sum, the content is good, but the title feels misdirected - this is really a treatise on why conservation is important to us all, not necessarily a specific appeal to the religious community for a theological change of heart. Not a wasted afternoon having read this, but I don't think this is the book to give any of the Baptist ministers I know.

4 people found this helpful

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Curtis H. Balls

Outstanding!

October 2, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A clarion call to arms by one of the world's most prominent naturalists and scientists. The biosphere is dying and it's up to us, the non-believer and believer alike, to Save it!

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jss

Science/Environment

October 23, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

E. O. Wilson, world-renowned Harvard biologist, believes Creation to be the greatest heritage. He leads professional and serious amateurs who love adventure and real-world challenges, body and mind, to discover that Nature is heaven on Earth.

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Margo A.

Clarifies the fact that religion and science contributes to the ...

January 11, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Clarifies the fact that religion and science contributes to the continued existence of our planet. Let's get our act together, cooperate and understand the need for mutual respect and help save the world.

One person found this helpful

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Corinne Maddox

Excellent resource for moral & religious justification of nature conservation

August 13, 2012

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book a an excellent resource that covers both science and moral/religious issues surrounding the conservation of nature. There are a few places that get fairly scientific but generally presents a compelling case easy to understand. It is not demeaning to the religious right, and it is not a book that is focused on discrediting creationism like some. It present arguments supporting the spiritual value of nature and evolution. There is a wonderful quote "Each species is a small universe in itself, from its genetic code to its anatomy, behavior, life cycle, and environmental role, and a self-perpetuating system created during an almost unimaginably complicated evolutionary history. Each species merits careers of scientific study and celebration by historians and poets." I plan to use it in a Methodist Church for a class to promote cherishing and caring for creation.

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