Colin Tudge, a well-known British science writer, has training in whole animal biology and a self-proclaimed love for the natural-historical foray among our fellow creatures. The first part of this big book (all of 90 pages) deals with the thorny problems of what Tudge rightly calls the craft and science of classification. Since the 1950s, the word cladistics has terrorized many traditional naturalists and biologists. But it is here to stay, and Tudge provides a very welcome guide that will be invaluable to both lay people and students.
The bulk of the text, nearly 500 pages, forms part II and includes the descriptions of the main groups, from the most primitive (alpha proteobacteria) prokaryotes to Eupatorium, a large genus of 1,800 or so species of plant. In between these two groups, at either end of the biological spectrum, lie all the more familiar bugs and beasts, including ourselves. Inevitably, given so many millions of organisms, difficult choices have to be made. Some groups are only dealt with at phylum level (for example, brachiopods), while others are detailed down to family level (for example, primates). Some extinct groups (not surprisingly, the dinosaurs) get a look, but not many overall. The short epilogue concerns conservation and is followed by a useful reference list of sources and an index. Altogether, the 600-odd pages are enlivened with a large number of excellent black-and-white drawings of individual organisms and diagrams illustrating evolutionary relationships. For all natural historians and anyone interested in biology, the The Variety of Life is a must. --Douglas Palmer, Amazon.co.uk
]]>So Shall We Reap combines all these strands in an impassioned plea for global change in current farming practice. Tudge argues that at present there are good reasons for thinking we are getting it wrong. For instance, one of the most glaring and obscene disparities is that while famine is common, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the developed world has food surpluses and is suffering from what the World Health Organisation calls a "global epidemic" of obesity.
Tudge examines the nature of the problem, then castigates the main players--the agribusiness, the bio technicians and other scientists who have been seduced by the lure of big bucks and quick fixes and then embarks on his own solution, what he calls "Enlightened Agriculture"--appealing to the better use of some basic rules of biology and ecological models and the development of more labour intensive mixed economies which will help maintain rural society. A detailed argument of the new agricultural revolution is presented here; Tudge suggests that the hammer and sickle has been replaced by a pc with access to the Internet. --Douglas Palmer
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The full story is, however, inescapably complicated. The science and technology of cloning, at least by our method, takes us into some of the most esoteric reaches of biology...
Their subject is complex and requires careful reading, but the reward is worth the effort. Inevitably, the issue of human cloning is looked at in some detail, and all three of the authors find the idea repugnant and do not believe society will accept it:
The pressures for human cloning are powerful; but, although it seems likely that somebody, at some time, will attempt it, we need not assume that it will ever become a common or significant feature of human life.
The book contains a comprehensive glossary to explain the scientific terms and abbreviations. Colin Tudge is the author of several books including The Engineer in the Garden, short-listed for the British Science Book Award. --Carina Trimingham, Amazon.co.uk
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