WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT
“Serious thinking on the
deeper connection between
the environment and social
and political issues.”
ing and classifying life on Earth before it
is too late. The program’s fundamental
premise is that if we don’t know what we
have, we won’t know what we’re losing.
Wilson has been pushing for this comprehensive cataloguing of the Earth’s biosphere for more than >fteen years. Backed
by an international consortium of leading
scienti>c institutions and $12.5 million
from the Sloan and MacArthur foundations, the EOL utilizes a universal access,
“wiki-style” environment with entries written by top specialists from many scienti>c
disciplines. In 2008, the EOL’s >rst web-pages were launched, o=ering an early
public view of Wilson’s long-range dream.
While the occasional report of a previously unknown bird or mammal may
grab headlines, such >ndings can leave
the mistaken impression that new life-forms are rarely discovered. In reality,
every year scientists identify thousands
of nameless and di;cult-to-organize
species. According to the International
Institute of Species Exploration, 16,969
new species were found in 2007 alone.
Most of these are tiny ?ora and fauna,
including species from the little-known
world of microbes that comprise half or
more of Earth’s biomass. Wilson is especially intrigued with “extremophiles,”
microorganisms that can survive in hostile environments, including outer space.
Wilson believes that researchers, spurred
by the EOL, may eventually discover alien
life-forms living on Earth that have drifted
in from other planets.
Aside from what we know about a few
well-studied groups such as birds and
mammals, the information we have about
most species is limited to little more than
their scienti>c name and perhaps a dusty
type specimen. Disorganization abounds.
Many “subspecies” are no doubt full species
in their own right, and scientists working in di=erent times and locations have
given the same species di=erent monikers. The EOL will help to organize this
tangled taxonomy.
But the EOL also is something more.
Its pages will tell the saga of 4 billion
years of evolution. Perhaps future generations will view this electronic encyclopedia as a sacred text, the chronicle of our
frayed and fragile biosphere.
For Sale: 39 Acres, Gorgeous Views, Low Taxes, Archaeological Sites
Indian Camp Ranch—at Cortez—America’s First Archaeological Subdivision
INDIAN CAMP RANCH is a twelve-hundred-acre tract of
land two miles due west of the town of Cortez in the southwest corner of Colorado. What is so unique about our development is that we have over 210 Anasazi sites in excess of
seven hundred years old. Montezuma County, where we are
located, has an estimated eighty thousand such sites, but our
uniqueness comes from not only the fact that we have the
highest recorded site density in the state of Colorado but that
we recognize the importance of protecting these sites for
future generations. Every parcel contains from one to seventeen sites and every owner may excavate his or her site when
he or she agrees to the following guidelines: 1. Excavate only
under the guidance of an approved archaeologist; 2. Protect
the finished dig in an open and protected condition; 3. Write
an archaeological report upon completion; 4. Agree to donate
all artifacts to the Indian Camp Ranch Museum upon the
owner’s death.
Adapted from Indian Camp Ranch’s website.
