Originally posted on Radio Boston, May 5, 2016
Naturalist E.O. Wilson, at WBUR. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Edward O. Wilson is professor emeritus at Harvard and one of the living giants in the natural sciences, but he doesn’t mind being called “the ant guy.”
But, he’s so much more than that. Wilson has turned his attention from the littlest creatures on earth to the most powerful species ever to walk the planet: us. The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner has just concluded a trilogy of books contemplating the role of humankind in nature and how our power and super-evolved brains are bringing about the destruction of the natural world.
In his final book, Wilson presents a solution. It’s called “Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life” and E.O. Wilson suggests quite plainly that, to save nature, we must set aside half of the earth’s land and water surface for conservation.
Guest
E.O. Wilson, professor emeritus at Harvard University, author of “Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight For Life.” He also shapes the mission of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, which tweets @EOWilsonFndtn.
