Professor Wilson's optimism seems a little over the top, but OK, I'm in. ( )

I was somewhat disappointed in this book. The first 2 sections are wonderfully written and I highly recommend the book on the basis of these two sections. The book falls short in the third section. It is a call for action in response to climate change; however, it really falls short especially after the release of the latest climate report. ( )

Wilson's entirely sensible and probably over-ambitious manifesto in favor of setting aside half the world's surface as a preserve. Perhaps not written for the right audience, unfortunately. ( )

Songwriter Paul Simon, who leafs through books for inspiration ("Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War"), name-checks conservationist Edward O. Wilson on tour. I can imagine Simon browsing randomly through this volume. Among the lithographs of plants and animals are Wilson's musings on taxonomy, rare birds and beasts, UNESCO heritage sites (he elides whether the wild horses grazing in the Białowieża Forest are the extinct tarpan) and the folly of assuming we can science our way out of monoculture risk. His cause is a vast expansion of the world's nature preserves, but his plan seems simply to share his enthusiasm for the natural world. Works for me.

E.O. Wilson makes reading about entomology entertaining and enlightening. There is ammo in here to battle the rambunctious garden Anthropocene crowd. Wilson caps off his disdain for such thinking with, "It has been my impression that those most uncaring and prone to be dismissive of the wildlands and the magnificent biodiversity these lands still shelter are quite often the same people who have had the least personal experience with either."

Ouch. ( )