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A carregar... In Search of Naturepor Edward O. Wilson
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Adira ao LibraryThing para descobrir se irá gostar deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. This book presents for the first time a collection of the seminal short writings of Edward O. Wilson, one of the most brilliant scientists of the 20th century. It is a lively and accessible introduction to Wilson's writing addressing a brief and eminent readable form the themes that have actively engaged this remarkable intellect throughout his career. Imaginatively illustrated by noted artist Laura Southworth, it is a book all readers will treasure. Essays from the 1980s and '90s: "To be anthropocentric is to remain unaware of the limits of human nature, the significance of biological processes underlying human behavior, and the deeper meaning of long-term genetic evolution." pg. 100 "... culture is ultimately a biological product. .... Culture conforms to an important principle of evolutionary biology: most change occurs to maintain the organism in its steady state." pg. 107 "... culture is created and shaped by biological processes while biological processes are simultaneously altered in response to cultural change." pg. 111 "Biophilia, if it exists, and I believe it exists, is the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms. .... The brain evolved in a biocentric world, not a machine-regulated one." pp. 165-166 "Biodiversity is the frontier of the future. Humanity needs a vision of an expanding and unending future. That spiritual craving cannot be satisfied by the colonization of space. .... The true frontier for humanity is life on Earth -- its science, art, and practical affairs. .... The manifold ways by which human beings are tied to the remainder of life are very poorly understood, crying for new scientific inquiry and bold aesthetic interpretation. .... The search is rendered more urgent by the rapid disappearance of the living part of that environment, creating a need not only for a better understanding of human nature but for a more powerful and intellectually convincing environmental ethic based upon it." pp. 178-179 nmiddels zijn Wilsons sociobiologische opvattingen veel minder omstreden geworden en na een glanzende academische carrière en twee Pulitzerprijzen, maakt hij een breed publiek met deze bundel lichtvoetige, prachtige geschreven verhalen deelgenoot van zijn liefde voor de natuur. Recensie(s) NBD|Biblion recensie Wilson is één van de belangrijkste grondleggers van het moderne ecologisch en gedragsbiologisch onderzoek. Daarnaast is hij bijzonder succesvol in het populariseren van biologische theorieën. Twee keer heeft hij de Pulitzer Prize ontvangen voor populair wetenschappelijke boeken. 'Kijk op de natuur' is net als 'Biophilia' (Harvard, 1984) een bundel verhalen over grote onderwerpen in de biologie, zoals altruïsme, agressie en cultuur. De rode draad is een evolutionaire kijk op gedrag van mens en dier. Bijna alle verhalen in 'Kijk op de natuur' zijn eerder verschenen in onder meer populaire en wetenschappelijke tijdschriften. Hoewel Wilson heeft getracht ze op elkaar af te stemmen, blijft een duidelijke diversiteit aan stijlen aanwezig. Echter, de heldere manier van schrijven, de rake uitleg van biologische fenomenen en het brede scala aan fascinerende voorbeelden, maken dat deze verhalenbundel door een zeer breed biologisch geïnteresseerd publiek gelezen zal worden. (Biblion recensie, Pieternella Luttikhuizen.) Stimulative reading: This book is not as provocative as 'On human nature'. The writing is not as combative, although it has many of the same themes : - human aggression (he does not agree with Konrad Lorenz - even aggression evolves rapidly - and Erich Fromm - humanity is not suicidal -) - the fallacy of ethics (human nature is to a large extent the heritage of a Pleistocene hunter-gatherer existance) - the place of mankind in Gaia (the totality of Life on Earth). He argues clearly that if human beings were to disappear, the world would go on little changed and would heal itself from the damage inflicted by mankind. The only necessary animals,for Gaia and also for the human species, are the invertebrates. Perhaps the most controversial point of the book are his arguments in defence of racial differences in the human populations, based on genetic components. But as always with E. O. Wilson, his argumentation is based on solid research and clear thinking. sem críticas | adicionar uma crítica
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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." Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — A carregar... GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)113Philosophy and Psychology Metaphysics Life And NatureClassificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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