Letters to a Young Scientist
By Edward Osborne Wilson
(Liveright Publishing Corporation, Hardcover, 9780871403773, 256pp.)
Publication Date: April 2013
Categories: Essays
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Description
Edward O. Wilson has distilled sixty years of teaching into a book for students, young and old. Reflecting on his coming-of-age in the South as a Boy Scout and a lover of ants and butterflies, Wilson threads these twenty-one letters, each richly illustrated, with autobiographical anecdotes that illuminate his career--both his successes and his failures--and his motivations for becoming a biologist. At a time in human history when our survival is more than ever linked to our understanding of science, Wilson insists that success in the sciences does not depend on mathematical skill, but rather a passion for finding a problem and solving it. From the collapse of stars to the exploration of rain forests and the oceans' depths, Wilson instills a love of the innate creativity of science and a respect for the human being's modest place in the planet's ecosystem in his readers.
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013
Biologist and Harvard professor Edward O. Wilson has spent his lifetime making scientific discoveries and writing award-winning, best-selling books on science. His new book, inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, gives advice gleaned from his career in science. More at NPR.org
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