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A must read for inquisitive, objective minds.
A very readable book that takes a thorough look at our relationship with nature and all of the bonds that tie us to it. Not just the genes we have in common with other life forms, but also our physical selves [the microbes we are endowed with]. It also discusses proven ways we can take better care of o... Read Moreurselves and nature. And for you strawberry lovers there is a whole chapter and coda :-)
What this book brings to my mind is something Rachel Carson said (long before a fuller meaning was understood), "Man is part of Nature, and his war against Nature is inevitably a war against himself."
Take time to absorb all the information presented and you will be more aware of what is termed a living world, and why we and other multicellular creatures are holobionts (not individual life forms).
A very relevant excerpt from the book:
Alright, so picture yourself chatting away with somebody. ... Lets ... suppose you bring up an environmental or wildlife issue. He listens with a polite expression as you speak. Thenwhile living with trillions of microbes inside, many of them busy providing him with go-power and digestive abilities and defending him against disease; while more microbes are in and on everything he eats and everything he touches; while he exhales tens of thousands with each breath and has tens of thousands more drifting off his skin; while he moves around in that microbial mist interacting with the live personal mists of every person and pet in the vicinity; while he is nourished, oxygenated, and influenced in countless other ways by organisms large and small, underfoot and overhead, close by and all around the only living planet we knowthis person offers a palms-up shrug and says, To tell the truth, Im really just not all that into nature.
He is as human as a human can be and is at the same time a walking, talking ecosystema smartphone-operating, grocery-shopping, dreaming one moment and credit card-swiping the next, traffic-jam-hating, surely strawberry-shortcake-loving, music-playing carrier of universally shared genes and the host for a collection of microbiomes. Lacking the invisible hordes normally inhabiting his mouth and guts and skin, he might survive for a whilein a bubble with artificial life support. Lacking mitochondria, he would die. So youd only be telling him the truth straight-up if you replied, Well, nature is not really what you think it is, youre not really what you think you are, and youre only around because nature is totally into you. But get ready. An awkward silence might follow and last a while.
"An artist commissioned to illustrate the way many folks think about our position in the living world might paint a scene with us as the shining capstone atop a grand pyramid of species. Instead, the growing collection of revelations from recent studies sticks humankind within a tangled skein of other life forms. You, every friend, enemy, lover, dignitary, and desperado along with every other animal, every plant, and every fungus youll ever meet, exist as a union. This doesnt refer to being the product of two parents. It means each of us is by nature a collaboration or collectivea joint ventureof fellow Earthlings.
... for goodness sake dont look for insight from anybody not particularly interested in the fate of nature on a living planet, much less willing to do something about it. That holobiont missed the memo to Know Thyself.
Do unto ecosystems as you would have them do unto you. ~ Douglas Chadwick
I purchased this book as an ebook directly from Patagonia because they are trying to do something meaningful.
An entertaining, accessible read that will no doubt resonate with the curious, open-minded. Chadwick connects the latest scientific dots with the profound reality of how deeply interconnected humans are with EVERYTHING. Read it to your kids; send it to your parents, friends, and family. HOLOBIONTS UNITE, with deep thanks to the publisher, Patagonia... Read More Works, and a reminder to also vote with your dollar. It matters.
Super perspectives that anyone should examine in their live!
I love the way the author Douglas Chadwick has presented the material! I am a biologist with an ecological emphasis. I am also an organic farmer. All of my experiences are health related not only to me as a human but to the very land we farm. So I can relate to lot of topics that Douglas presents. It's a WOW and a YAH for me!
To the bone science beautifully illustrated. Chadwick knows his stuff and with passion and wit he shares his hard earned wisdom. Read this book and learn something new.
Just thumbing through this book, I can't wait to read it. The pictures are phenomenal, the stats are accessible and easy to understand, even as one who is not a wildlife biologist. I gave this book to my husband as a father's day gift and he can't read it fast enough.
this was a book! A wonderful book! Patagonia does so well with the books it publishes and Doug Chadwick is an awesome person, like Yvon, without the climbing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned much from it. Thank you