Letters to a Young Scientist

As a biologist, Wilson places a major emphasis on biodiversity in this book. Although he is ostensibly writing to all young scientists, a lot of his advice and all of his anecdotes are predicated on the assumption that the reader will be a biologist like him. He sees biodiversity as presenting the greatest opportunity for discovery, the greatest source of wonder about the world, and the most significant source of new knowledge available to human beings.

Wilson’s fervent belief in the primacy of biology and biodiversity ties into his understanding of a scientist’s job: He encourages the reader to think of their scientific career as a quest for the Holy Grail. This is a way of maintaining enthusiasm over a career that might span decades. He argues that the study of biodiversity is not just a noble and valuable pursuit, but the single most significant and valuable way for a human being to spend their lifetime. Although this is an opinion, Wilson repeatedly presents it as a fact.

Wilson’s work has dramatically changed how scientists now understand biodiversity. In his career, he created taxonomies of previously unknown ant species and studied their behavior and evolutionary relationships. He pioneered the field of island biogeography to explore how animals and plants influence and are influenced by their island habitats. Some of Wilson’s work has helped the scientific community document and understand both invasive and endangered species, which has in turn allowed governments and activists to take steps to protect Earth’s biodiversity. In all these ways and others, Wilson has lived up to his own assertions about the importance of biodiversity. He has personally added to the world’s knowledge by studying, categorizing, and creating theories about biodiversity on Earth.

Learning about biodiversity can show humans how they are connected to each other and to all life on Earth. As Wilson notes, a single gram of soil is its own extraordinarily diverse ecosystem teeming with bacterial life. Unfortunately, some important biologists have used their study of biodiversity to uphold and perpetuate scientific racism (See: Background). Wilson does not acknowledge this legacy, and indeed he participated in it, though that was not clear until after his death. Young scientists who want to study biodiversity will need to deliberately frame their thinking to avoid upholding these ideas. Instead of seeing biodiversity as evidence that some people or species are superior to others, it is possible to think of biodiversity as a unifying factor for all living things. After all, every living thing on Earth comes from a single shared ancestor. It is only through time, random mutations, distance, and environmental factors that life has developed into its current extraordinary diversity.