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Dr. Michael Charles Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison are world-renowned ecological philosophers and activists, interdisciplinary social and environmental scientists, and broad-ranging, deeply committed humanists. This collection of fifty essays and interviews comprises an invigorating, outspoken, provocative and eloquent overview of the ecological humanities in one highly accessible volume.
The components of this collection were published in the authors' Forbes blog and in Eco News Network from 2010 to 2013 and feature luminaries from Jane Goodall to Ted Turner to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute to the former head of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Stunning color photographs captured by the authors and contributors make Why Life Matters: Fifty Ecosystems of the Heart and Mind a feast for the eyes as well as the mind and soul. Ethics, science, technology, ecological literacy, grass-roots renaissance thinkers, conservation innovation from the U.S. to the U.K.; from India to Ecuador; from Bhutan to Haiti; from across Africa, the Neo-Tropics, Central Asia and Japan, to Rio, Shanghai and Manhattan – this humanistic ode to the future of life on earth is a relevant and resonating read.
Part One: Nature & Human Economics
1) "Technology, Business and Nature: An Economic Primer on Winners and Losers"
2) "Women, Wall Street and Mitigating Climate Change: The Critical Importance of WOCAN"
3) "The New Business of Business: Evolution of Culture and the Survival of Humankind".-4) "Wall Street After Rio: A Discussion With Calvert Investments' Senior Sustainability Research Analyst, Ms. Ellen Kennedy"
5) "Investing in the End-Game: An EarthDay Post-Mortem"
6) "Just When You Thought You Could Bank On It"
Part Two: The Carbon-Negative Ideal
7) "SuperGrid"
8) "Ecuador's Imperiled Paradise: One of the World's Most Important, If Least Known Battles - A Conversation with Dr. Ivonne Baki"
9) "Native American Tribes Get a Seat at the Climate Table"
10) "Climate Shock: UC-Berkeley Scientist Dr. John Harte Puts the World On Notice"
Part Three: Human Health and a Living Earth
11) "Occupy Your Diet: A Discussion About Food, Health and Kindness With Dr. Neal Barnard"
12) "Eating You Alive: Environmental Cancer"
13) Food That Might Protect Your Brain and Save Your Life: A Discussion About the Ecology of Alzheimers With Dr. Neal Barnard"
14) "Biological Shock-Treatment: A Discussion With 'Deadly Monopolies' Author Harriet A. Washington"
15) "Bioeconomics: A New National Blueprint"
Part Four: Ecology and the Human Population Explosion
16) "Six Billion or Fifteen Billion People: A Discussion With Environmental Scientist Leon Kolankiewicz"
17) "A King's Speech That Could Help Save The World: A Discussion With UC-Berkeley's Dr. Malcolm Potts"
18) "Planet Under Siege: Family Planning Critics Soon to See Global Population Reach 7,000,000,000"
19) "China's Demographic and Ecological Conundrum"
Part Five: Ecological Heroes
20) "One Woman's Remarkable Quest to Save Africa's White Lion"
21) "A Discussion With UNOPS Luminary Ms. Maria-Noel Vaeza"
22) "Down To Earth: The World According to Ted Turner"
23) "How the Life of a Chipmunk in Michigan Came to Save Elephants and a Million Acres in Cambodia"
24) "Helen Clark: UNDP's Pragmatic Visionary"
25) "A Jain Leader Addresses the World"
26) "A Discussion With Jane Goodall"
Part Six: The State of the World
27) "China Declares Global State of Emergency: An Urgent Telegram from Taihu"
28) "Japan's Tragedy: Global Ecological Uncertainty"
29) "Before the Fall: Syria's Ecosystems"
30) "Sir Simon Jenkins, England's National Trust, and the Future of Conservation in Great Britain"
31) "Extinction: Poachers Test the Right to Life"
Part Seven: Animal Rights
32) "Compassionate Conservation: A Discussion From the Frontlines with Dr. Marc Bekoff"
33) "Animal Rights in China"
35) "Why Insects Sing: A Discussion With David Rothenberg"
36) "Protecting Bambi With Drones: PETA's Ingrid Newkirk on Hunters, Horsemeat and More"
Part Eight: Why Your Neighbor Is Important: New Strategies for a Bright Future
37) "The Heart of Education: A Discussion With Zoe Weil"
38) "Journey to the Center of the World: An Interview With Dr. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian"
39) "How A Single National Park Might Help Transform a Nation: Haiti's Pic Macaya"
40) "Conservation International: Stemming the Tide of Environmental Crises"
41) "The Future of Life on Earth"
42) "On Parrots, Eagles and Fighting Species Extinction"
Part Nine: Ecological Paradise?
43) "An Ecological Paradise in Southern India: A Discussion About the Todas With Dr. Tarun Chhabra"
44) "J. P. Morgan, Edward Curtis and Christopher Cardozo: An Inspired Collaboration"
45) "A New Natural History Blueprint for Universities: A Discussion With Graham Arader"
46) "God's Country: The New Zealand Factor"
47) "New Territories: Artist Astrid Preston Celebrates the Earth in a Landmark Nature Exhibition"
48) "Lenin Moreno 2012 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Reflects on Human Welfare and the Rights of Nature"
49) "Nigel Brown: A New Zealand Original"
50) "The Last Shangri-la? A Conversation With Bhutan's Secretary of the National Environment Commission, Dr. Ugyen Tshewang"
Michael Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison, a married couple who between them have authored some 50 books, and written, directed and produced some 170 films read, translated and/or broadcast around the world, have been married for more than a quarter-of-a-century. Their field research covers the disciplines of comparative literature, anthropology, the history of science and philosophy, ecology and ethics, in over 80 countries.
