Challenging Nature
The Clash of Science and Spirituality at the New Frontiers of Life
by Lee M. Silver

From Booklist
The archetype of mortal defiance, Prometheus has found a new champion. Outspoken molecular biologist Silver argues that only scientists willing to join Prometheus in challenging divine prohibitions will ever deliver on the promise of new genetic technologies. Although despairing of ever expunging spiritual beliefs from liberal democracies altogether, Silver hopes that a truly open and rational public dialogue will expose the folly of continuing to allow religious fundamentalists to impose needless restrictions on scientific research. It particularly galls Silver that such religionists often confuse an ill-informed public by cleverly wrapping their religious objectives in scientific rhetoric. Surprisingly, Silver sees the Christian obstructionists of the Religious Right finding allies among the left-leaning, post-Christian devotees of nature. Both groups recoil from the prospect of using new science to improve human genes or to reengineer the plants and animals humans rely on for food. Both groups, Silver asserts, fail to realize that humans have been productively intervening in natural reproductive processes for millennia--and should now use available tools to do so more aggressively, both to minimize human suffering and to maximize ecological health. The relentlessness with which Silver disputes the views of his opponents will impress many readers--and alienate others. But this book will surely fuel precisely the kind of debate Silver recognizes as essential in a democracy sorting out perplexing scientific possibilities. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
 

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The Creation
An Appeal to Save Life on Earth
by E. O. Wilson (Author)

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
 

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Ethics for a Finite World
An Essay Concerning a Sustainable Future
by Herschel Elliott (Author)

Herschel Elliott takes traditional environmental ethics to task in this provocative, challenging, and controversial look at the balance between human activity and the environment. His comments on this balance are illustrated by the effects of Hurricane Katrina. He had this to say about the efforts to rebuild: "The whole problem is that the constant population and economic increase can't stand up against natural disasters like this, and until that is addressed, the problem will remain and this will happen again. The constant requests for money is like a band-aid on an open wound, it won't fix it."

This acclaimed philosopher constructs a coherent theory of ethics based on the idea that both self-centered and self-sacrificing behaviors lead to the same end: the total collapse of our environment. Therefore, the first ethical obligation of everyone should be to maintain the endurance and resilience of the Earth's ecosystem. Then, after the environment is secure, ethical attention can be directed towards maintaining the human population at a level that will allow human life to become worth living.
 

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