A Window into One of

the World’s Most

Diverse Habitats

Gorongosa National Park,

Mozambique

From Edward O. Wilson, one of

the world’s leading naturalists,

A Window on Eternity is the

remarkable story of how one of the

most biologically diverse habitats

in the world was

destroyed, restored, and

continues to evolve.

“It is one thing to draw a line around a beautiful area, declare it a national

park, then add the amenities necessary to serve the public. It is entirely

another thing, at a higher order of magnitude, to restore a damaged park

to its original health and vibrancy.”

“Might it be that the smartest animals

learn more quickly how to deal with

humans, in clever and opportunistic

ways?”

“Those untrained in such matters, which includes almost all the rest of us, think of animal dung, if

we think about any of it at all (as when scraping it off our shoes), as just a smell mess to be

avoided. But for countless small animals [it] is a treasure, a source of life.”

“Crocodiles and hippopotamus congregate close together. The adults of

both species are formidable giants, each capable of mortal danger to the

other. Perhaps the almost intimate coexistence of the two giants illustrates

a principle of evolutionary biology: size counts.”

“Elephants are highly intelligent animals, and relationships among the members of the

clans are intimate and long remembered. With natural lifespans of half a century or

longer, and legendary memories, they remember the horrors inflicted by humans on

foot and from motor vehicles.”

“People are mostly safe amid what remains of the living nature. We

conquered all the man-eaters long ago by destroying almost all of the big

predators willing and able to hunt humans.”

“Social insects are the most spectacular in all the great faunas

on the land. Their species variously build cities, raise gardens, and conduct

endless wars to acquire territory or capture slaves. The wars they

conduct are worthy of Homer.”

“Given that we have scarcely begun to understand the origin and meaning of

our own species, how can we hope by any easy means to master the rest of the living world?”

“The balance of nature in every ecosystem is thus an equilibrium teetering on a razor’s

edge. Even small changes in the environment can tip it enough to extinguish species.”

“Humans come first, of course.

But shouldn’t the rest of life

and the quality of human life

dependent on the rest of life be

entered into the equation? Put

another way,

do we wish future generations

to think we were insane or

perhaps criminally stupid?”

“I believe that the 10 billion people expected to be present at the end

of the century would enjoy a far better quality of life if we considered

half of the planet for nature than if we consumed nature entirely.”

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A Window on Eternity