The Future of Life by: Edward O. Wilson Essay -- Book Review

This chapter to me was all about organisms that can survive in extreme conditions. How every square inch of earth is inhabited with creatures of one kind or another. I learnt the fundamental principle of biological geography, that wherever there is liquid water (h2o), organic molecules, and an energy source, there is life. I found out about the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, who soils are the coldest, driest, and most nutritionally deficient in the world. How some specialized species of bacteria and archaeans live in the walls of volcanic hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, where they can multiply in water close to or above the boiling point. He also describes an organism called, hyperthermophiles, that love extreme heat, and Deinococcus radiodurans, a microorganism which can withstand levels of radiation capable of killing humans and other organisms. The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica seems from its description sterile and desolate. When I read the quote from Robert F. Scott in 1903, the first to explore the region, â€Å" We have seen no living thing, not even a moss or lichen; all that we did find, far inland among the moraine heaps, was the skeleton of a Weddell seal, and how that came there is beyond guessing.† The skeleton of the Weddell seal made me thing that maybe it was once a ocean and dried up over the years. But then again it is Antarctica, maybe it was trapped in a glacier, when it melt and retreated, it left the skeleton behind. It was shocking to find out that only twenty species of photosynthetic bacteria, which is making a long story short, mostly single-celled algae and weird, nasty sounding microscopic invertebrate animals that feed on these primary producers. These organisms of this region are what scie... ...e Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson Alfred A. Knopf New York. 2002. Brown, L. et al. (1999). State of the World 1998. New York: Norton. Chivian, E. et al. (1993). Critical Condition: Human Health and the Environment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. Footprint of Nations Report. Available at http://www.iclei.org/iclei/ecofoot.htm. McMichael, A. (1993). Planetary Overload. New York: Cambridge University Press. Soskolne, C. L., and Bertollini, R. (1999). Global Ecological Integrity and "Sustainable Development": Cornerstones of Public Health. World Health Organization, European Centre for Environment and Health, Rome Division. Wackernagel, M., and William, R. (1996). Our Ecological Footprint. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers. World Health Organization (1998). World Health Report. Geneva: Author.