Resurrection Science: Conservation, De-extinction and the Precarious Future of Wild Things
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In a world dominated by people and rapid climate change, species large and small are increasingly vulnerable to extinction. In Resurrection Science, journalist M.R. O'Connor explores the extreme measures scientists take are taking to try and save them, from captive breeding and translocating genetically rare individuals to frozen zoos and de-extinction. The paradox is that the more humans intervene to save species, the less wild they become. Through stories of 16th century galleon excavations, puma tracking in Florida's swamps, ancient African rainforests, Neanderthal tool-making, and cryogenic DNA banks, O'Connor goes in search of answers to the philosophical and ethical questions of an age in which we "play god" with earth's biodiversity.
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Each chapter in this beautifully written book focuses on a unique species and the people entwined in their fate, from the charismatic northern white rhinoceros to the infamous passenger pigeon. O'Connor incorporates natural history, evolutionary biology, and conversations with eminent ethicists ,, discovering that these efforts raise fundamental questions about the human enterprise : What should we preserve of wilderness as we hurtle towards a future in which technology is present in nearly every aspect of our lives? How can we co-exist with species when our existence and their survival appear to be pitted against one another?
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