| Contents Notes |
Way of science: Surprise from sociobiology -- Varieties of ecoreligious experience -- Science and meaning -- Science and the coming of a new story: Epic of evolution -- Science into story -- Conversation with catalysts -- Celebrating the epic -- Biology and the celebration of diversity: Re-storying biodiversity -- Islands everywhere -- Conversation with an earth ecstatic -- Life loves life -- Ecology and the birth of bioregionalism: Keystones, aliens, and ghosts -- Polarities -- Conversation with hands-off stewards -- Creating science-based rituals -- Geophysiology and the revival of Gaia: Powers of persistence -- Developing biosphere -- Conversation with the F1 and F2 generations -- Beyond the science -- Meaning-making: Federation of meaning -- Value-making -- Meaning-makers -- Living dangerously. Over the last few centuries, science has more and more usurped domains of knowledge that were once the province of religion: for example, the movements of the heavens, the origin and diversity of life, even the inward world of human consciousness. At the same time, however, both science and religion have always enforced strict boundaries. Science can tell us how the world is, but it cannot instruct us about meaning or values. In a provocative book that is sure to be controversial, Connie Barlow puts forth a compelling case for breaching this barrier - in effect, for a reunification of knowledge and meaning. Evolutionary biology tells us how we came to be; rendered as the Epic of Evolution, it provides a powerful origin story appropriate for these times. Conservation biology, ecology, and Gaia theory all reveal how we fit in with the natural world; Barlow argues that they can not only inform our ethics but also expand our sense of meaning. Barlow explores both established and new fields in the biological sciences to show how science intersects realms of meaning and value. She describes how some of the leading scientists and philosophers of our day are working to reunite knowledge of the world with a sense of the sacred. |
