The Creation

The Creation:
An Appeal to Save Life on Earth
Edward O. Wilson, 2006
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
New York
ISBN 978-0-393-33048-9 pbk

"Pastor, I am grateful for your attention. As a scientist who has spent a lifetime studying the creation, I have done my best here to brief you and others on subjects I hope will be more a part of out common concern. My foundation of reference has been the culture of science and some of secularism based on science, as I understand them. From that foundation I have focused on the interaction of three problems that affect everyone: the decline of the living environment, the inadequacy of scientific education, and the moral confusions caused by the exponential growth of biology. In order to solve these problems, I’ve argued, it will be necessary to find common ground on which the powerful forces of religion and science can be joined. The best place to start is the stewardship of life."
So begins Chapter 17, the final chapter, of Edward O. Wilson’s book, The Creation. Wilson wrote the book as a letter to a Southern Baptist preacher, and has no fear of directly referring to both their differences. He begins with a reference to his own early experiences in the faith, his departure from it, and their common roots as southerners.
Within the framework of this unique approach, Wilson describes subjects already known to his readers: the importance of nature as our home, the destruction of nature by habitat loss, invasive species and other causes, and the love of nature (Biophilia). The Creation is a book long appeal for science and religion to find common ground and save the natural world.