Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge

Biology Rules - Maybe

Wilson`s Consilience is imaginative, bold and provocative. In fact, it is rare that thinkers these days dare to venture beyond the narow confines of their fields and attempt an uber-theory. Wilson should be congratulated for his guts and for his intellectual audacity. The work necessary for the true consilience he seeks is still a ways off, and may end up proving contrary to Wilson`s biological determinism. Nonetheless, the complexity aspects of large scale biology (ecology, population dynamics, etc.) for which Wilson is best known, do seem to offer a cogent model for understanding a wide range of human activities.

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Enthusiastic and Imaginative!

I like the imaginative and enthusiastic attempt by the author at putting knowledge in the sciences and the arts together. I think Wilson has put together a wonderful storyline with many scientific findings to support various parts of it. The best thing about this book is that you can feel the author's enthusiasm and energy in this book and this makes the book difficult to put down. Although his vision may or may not be completely accurate (only time will tell), his enthusiasm for it is what makes this book so enjoyable. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has wondered why about important questions in life. I also recommend 'The Ever-Transcending Spirit' by Toru Sato if you have wondered about consciousness, human systems, and evolution. They come from different perspectives but both are absolutely fantastic books!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Consilience, a subject for everyone

I read this book at the suggestion of two friends who are also bibliophiles with a broad spectrum of interests. They both enjoyed it and I have to agree with them. The book is densely packed with information on a variety of subjects as diverse as French philosophers and the newest advances in brain/mind research. There is virtually something for everyone in this volume, whether it's something you've studied for years or something you've always wondered about. Furthermore, the end-volume footnotes are as full of useful information as the text itself. They include the usual additional commentary on the text and also resources for follow up reading. As Wilson suggests, one can definitely see consilience among of the various disciplines of the physical sciences. Certainly the dialogue that the theory of astroid impact as a causative factor in KT boundary extinction created among the various sciences in the 80s is evidence of that, as is the ongoing exchange between the technological--especially computer technology--and medical sciences. I'm not sure to what degree the social sciences will be able to meld with the physical sciences however. These disciplines seem at odds with one another and practitioners are even more suspicious of those in the 'hard' sciences than they are of one another. Furthermore, the notion that the arts will at some time be consilient with both is almost scarry! The book is well worth reading. Plan on taking it slow, though, as much of it requires considerable thought.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Another in the tradition of excellent writing

Dr.Wilson is truly one of the most brilliant minds of our time. I found this book incredibly interesting and absolutely engaging. I've never reread a book (for pleasure), until now (I am currenlty on my third read of consilience). I highly recommend this book. Take time to think about Wilson's message. The book is not meant to be a literary treatise on the humanities.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Updating old themes

The idea of the unity of knowledge is very old and Wilson adds little to its content, but he updates the nuances of the subject with great skill, clarity and learning, bringing it from the basement of philosophy and science into the vocabulary of the 21st century. A provocative, engaging and intellectually sweeping feat of philosophical synthesis and popular science writing.

Absorbing

An avid general interest reader for many years, it isn't often that I can say a book has provided me with a clearer vision of the contemporary intellectual landscape. Consiliance contains richly woven detail drawn from many fields. Obviously, it is the product of one of the most learned people of our time, and while I find myself taking issue with some of the details, the author's major premise allows him to picture for the reader what today's foremost scholars are pondering. Awesome in scope, I am far better informed for having read it.

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