The Diversity of Life

Author: E. O. Wilson

This book was my introduction to Edward O. Wilson

I remember the day vividly, during the COVID-19 pandemic. I had decided to read this book since I believed diversity was, as I had pictured it, fundamentally at the level of the organism.

Impressed by the first few pages, I immediately decided to listen to his Ted talk. And I was surprised.

How he spoke matched his writing to a T!

The weight of the chosen words and the authority of sentence construction had me up late into the night digging deeper into his thoughts. He punctuates his story with the destructive forces of nature. Yet, the diversity of life is still as abundant as ever.

He focuses on diversity at three levels — genes, species, and ecosystem.

For the gene, it is largely seen through mutations. As for species, he argues how Natural Selection works to minimize hybrids. With reference to the last level, he highlights our little understanding of the interactions in different ecosystems.

Surprisingly, he does not mention viruses in the entire book.

Maybe it could be tied to the fact that he never considered them alive in the first place. I tend to think they are conditionally alive. Similarly, humans are conditionally alive in our Goldilocks zone, on Earth.

Regardless, this piece of work highlights why E.O. Wilson is considered by many to be Darwin’s heir. If it is not the detailed descriptions, then it is the masterful story-telling.

Get yourself a copy and see it for yourself.

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