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Biodiversity. Edited by E. O. Wilson. National Academy Press. 1988. Pp. 521. Over the past few years considerable attention has been paid to the way humans are modifying the ecosystem. Thus words like conservation, environmental damage, and the greenhouse effect, are constantly in the news. This book Biodiversity – short for biological diversity – is designed to increase the public awareness of the extent of environmental destruction as well as the ways of reducing this damage. The book is based on a national forum held in Washington, D.C. in September 1986 under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences and Smithsonian Institute. It brought together biologists, economists, philosophers, agriculturalists and other professionals with expertise in some facet of biodiversity. The resulting book consists of 57 chapters organised in thirteen sections. Each contribution is brief and to the point and the majority have references to further work on that chapter’s subject. The main emphasis is towards tropical rainforests but there is also coverage of oceanic islands, grasslands and coastal zones. The sections are quite wide-ranging, for instance that dealing with human dependence on biological diversity, monitoring and protecting diversity and the contribution that science and technology can make, as well as James Lovelock’s views on the Earth as a living organism. The book which is directed at general readers is also very suitable for undergraduate courses. The threat to the biodiversity is very great and so a book which makes us more aware of these dangers deserves maximum publicity. C. G. N. MASCIE-TAYLOR | ||||||