biology

Half-Earth

Half-Earth is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Half-Earth rather than just read about it. In short: Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life is a 2016 book by the biologist E. O.

Key takeaways

Half-Earth belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Half-Earth to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Half-Earth from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life is a 2016 book by the biologist E. O. Wilson, the last in a trilogy beginning with The Social Conquest of Earth (2012) and The Meaning of Human Existence (2014). Half-Earth proposes that half of the Earth's surface should be designated a human-free natural reserve to preserve biodiversity. Wilson noted that the term "Half-Earth" was coined for this concept by Tony Hiss in his Smithsonian article "Can the World Really Set Aside Half the Planet for Wildlife?"

Reception Ecologist Christine Griffiths, reviewing the book in Science, described Wilson's plan as an "evidence rich plea dismissing Anthropocene optimism that humanity could survive without nature". However Griffiths questioned whether Wilson's demand was realistic, as in 2015 only 15% of land and 2.8% of marine areas were protected. She lauded Wilson to challenge the reader to take individual responsibility to preserve the biosphere. Dean Kuipers from Outside magazine wrote "Half-Earth is less detailed plan than aspirational goal". Kuipers asked about logistics: "Would people in preservation areas be relocated, or would they be allowed to stay? Would governments agree to such protections?" He pointed out that Wilson spends a portion of the book criticizing "new conservationists", individuals who believe in smart economic development, but that in "the second to last chapter of Half-Earth, Wilson makes the case for smart and fast development". The Guardian found Wilson did "a first-class job at providing an outline of our terrible ecological plight", an "antidote to the views of those that everything is tickety-boo in the Garden of Eden", but he criticized that "providing no detail of the measures needed to ensure his goal or what territories should be annexed or what funding mechanisms or agreements will be required to achieve his goal...is a pretty serious limitation". Jedediah Purdy reviewed the book in The New Republic April 2016 at length in careful, contextual detail of Wilson's prior findings, views and experience, unlike other reviewers. He identified the "strengths and limitations of [Wilson's] standpoint are those of a mind formed in the twentieth-century United States...assuming nature is generally benign and is at its purest in wilderness". He criticized Wilson's "indifference to serious political thought" calling him revivalist, post-Transcendentalist, the book "of grand ambition without much to say... poorly balanced", for example when Wilson mentions artificial intelligence at the end or when Wilson devotes polemical chapters to the word Anthropocene. Purdy judged, the book is a "victim of Wilson's parochial understanding of the human beings who are both its audience and its topic". Kirkus Reviews called Wilson "unquestionably well-versed in the nature of the problem, ...[but] fuzzy on the solution", and "Not so much a potent plan as another informed plea for humanity to act as stewards". In November 2017, Richard Horton mentioned Half-Earth in The Lancet pointing out that Wilson argues for "investment to understand better the ecosystems on which we rely". In 2015, Audubon magazine wrote that "in many ways this respected scholar is risking his reputation of a lifetime with such a radical idea. But then, frankly, he doesn’t think he is the radical. He’s shocked at how inured we’ve all become to habitat destruction." The Library Journal's Barbara Hoffert selected Half-Earth as one of her top five non-fiction books of March 2015, without a critical review, however.

See also 30 by 30 – International ecological preservation initiative EcoHealth – Study of human health and ecosystemsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Planetary health – Health of civilization and natural systems

References

External links Begley, Sarah (March 14, 2016). "Half-Earth". Time. Vol. 187, no. 9. p. 20. Grant, Bob (April 1, 2016). "Half-Earth: our planet's fight for life". The Scientist. 30 (4): 83. Seaman, Donna (February 15, 2016). "Half-Earth: our planet's fight for life". Booklist. 112 (12): 13–14.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Half-Earth

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Half-Earth claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Half-Earth before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Half-Earth ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Half-Earth

In research: Half-Earth appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Half-Earth in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Half-Earth is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2016 English-language non-fiction books, 2016 non-fiction books, American non-fiction books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Half-Earth outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Half-Earth in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Half-Earth means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Half-Earth out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Half-Earth in simple terms?

Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life is a 2016 book by the biologist E. O.

Why does Half-Earth matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Half-Earth?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Half-Earth.