Excellent post at Ecotone, motivating me to post the following response:
Anthill is a wonderful read; no exception to the rule of E. O. Wilson’s writing
talents. (No, it hasn’t been released yet, but I have a pre-publication copy.)
It’s good to have the world’s top conservation biologist exercising his
abilities in a variety of venues and media.
Pertaining to the ESA, though, I think it’s also important to note that E. O.
Wilson is "tackling fiction" in more ways than one. For example, he has
tackled the fiction that "there is no conflict between growing the economy and
protecting the environment." Dr. Wilson is among the numerous dignitaries who
are signatories to the CASSE position on economic growth, which describes a
fundamental conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. The
hero in Anthill understands this conflict quite well.
Hopefully the ESA will start tackling the fiction of "green growth," too.
Widespread knowledge of the environmental problems caused by economic growth is
necessary for a sustainable consumer ethic and economic policy regime. This is
something the Anthillers of the world will need in their struggles for
conservation.
Brian Czech, Ph.D., President
Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
www.steadystate.org
From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news
[ecolo...@listserv.umd.edu] On Behalf Of Katie Kline [ka...@esa.org]
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 9:32 AM
To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] EcoTone: Tackling fiction with what he knows best
I was thumbing through my New Yorker magazine when the featured fiction story
caught my eye. The accompanying graphic showed several silhouetted ants and
the opening line of the story read: "The Trailhead Queen was dead." I began
reading and got pulled into the plight facing the colony, which was profoundly
affected by the death of its long-lived queen.
Something about the fiction story was different though. While it kept my
attention it also fed me detailed and fascinating facts (e.g. "...ants are
encased in an external skeleton; their soft tissues shrivel into dry threads
and lumps, but their exoskeletons remain, a knight's armor fully intact long
after the knight is gone.") Halfway through reading, it struck me that this
was just the sort of story a biologist could write. I flipped back to check
who authored the piece and was startled to see that it was a biologist.
Read more and comment at
http://www.esa.org/esablog/conservation/tackling-fiction-with-what-he-knows-best/.
