The Meaning of Human Existence

In The Meaning of Human Existence, his most philosophical work to date, Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson grapples with these and other existential questions, examining what makes human beings supremely different from all other species. Searching for meaning in what Nietzsche once called "the rainbow colors" around the outer edges of knowledge and imagination, Wilson takes his readers on a journey, in the process bridging science and philosophy to create a twenty-first-century treatise on human existence — from our earliest inception to a provocative look at what the future of mankind portends.

"A valedictory work... What a lively writer Mr. Wilson can be. This two time winner of the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction stands above the crowd of biology writers the way John le Carré stands above spy writers. He's wise, learned, wicked, vivid, oracular." Dwight Garner

"In his typically elegant style, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Wilson () cannily and candidly probes the nature of human existence." New York Times Book Review

"E. O. Wilson is Darwin's great successor, a scientist of such astounding breadth, depth, experience, and brilliance that he offers us nothing less than a new understanding of humanity... You will see the beauty, mystery, and possibilities of human existence through the eyes of one of humanity's greatest and most intrepid explorers." Publishers Weekly

"[A] tough-minded little primer-cum-manifesto... Compact and readable." Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University

"There can be few better guides through our species' past journey and potential for the future... A provocative and beautifully written collection of essays." Dan Cryer Boston Globe

"No biologist has been more persistent or eloquent in correcting our misapprehensions about human origins than Edward O. Wilson... We should be grateful that Wilson, so late in his illustrious career, still appeals to reason and imagination in hopes of enlightening us about our nature and inspiring us to change our destructive ways." Tim Lenton Nature

"Wilson asks: Does humanity have a special place in the universe? Where are we going, and why? He answers by telling science's latest creation stories, and presenting a vision of the future both inspiring and plausible, not an easy feat to pull off... Wilson is both a wild-eyed optimist and a hard-nosed realist. What more can we ask of a prophet?" Scott Russell Sanders Washington Post

How did humanity originate and why does a species like ours exist on this planet? Do we have a special place, even a destiny in the universe? Where are we going, and perhaps, the most difficult question of all, "Why?"

Edward O. Wilson is widely recognized as one of the world's preeminent biologists and naturalists. The author of more than twenty books, including The Creation, The Social Conquest of Earth, The Meaning of Human Existence, and Letters to a Young Scientist, Wilson is a professor emeritus at Harvard University. The winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he lives in Lexington, Massachusetts.