Collected Papers of Michael E. Soulé: Early Years in Modern Conservation Biology - Hardcover

"Michael Soul has guided the development of the vital field of conservation biology since its origin, making sure that it remains true to the best science and the best ethical principles in the face of numerous challenges. This remarkable feat is beautifully charted in these collected papers." --David Ehrenfeld, Founding Editor of "Conservation Biology" and Distinguished Professor of Biology, Rutgers Univ. "Michael Soul is considered the father of modern conservation biology and is one of my personal heroes. The papers in this collection are valuable and timeless on their own, but the addition of a preface, a substantive introduction by James Estes, and introductions to each paper by the author and Rob Peters makes this book a significant new contribution to the literature. The outlook for life on Earth may appear grim, but the world is a better place with Michael Soul in it." --Reed F. Noss, author of "Forgotten Grasslands of the South" "At a time when fewer and fewer individuals understand what wildness means and how biology works, the Collected Papers of Michael E. Soul arrives like rain in the desert. No one has had a greater impact on conservation biology than Michael Soul . His knowledge of this blessed Earth is more than just a sharp-eyed respect for science. Soul holds a spiritual conviction that recognizes that the intersection between biology and beauty is the miraculous. Each of these papers is an example of ecological consciousness delivered with a bow toward our humble place on the planet." --Terry Tempest Williams, author of "When Women Were Birds"

In the early 1970s, the environmental movement was underway. Over population was recognised as a threat to human well-being, and scientists like Michael Soule believed there was a connection between anthropogenic pressures on natural resources and the loss of the planet's biodiversity. Soule recognised the importance of a healthy natural world and with other leaders of the day pushed for a new interdisciplinary approach to preserving biological diversity. Thirty years later, he is hailed by many as the single most important force in the development of the modern science of conservation biology. This book is a select collection of seminal writings by Michael Soule over a thirty-year time-span from 1980 through the present day. Intended for a new generation of students, it offers a fresh presentation of goals of conservation biology, and inspiration and guidance for the global biodiversity crises facing us today. Readers will come away with an understanding of the science, passion, idealism, and sense of urgency that drove early founders of conservation biology like Michael Soule.