New book Why Life Matters informs, inspires, engages

Springer title collects viewpoints from across the globe in a humanistic ode to the future of life on Earth

New York, 1 December 2014

From famed ecologists and authors Dr. Michael Charles Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison comes a new book that should be on the reading lists of anyone concerned or interested with the future of life on Earth – Why Life Matters: Fifty Ecosystems of the Heart and Mind. Having written some 50 books and produced some 170 films between them, it is no surprise that this new title from the married duo is a powerful ode to life told through the lens of two deeply committed humanists.

Comprised of fifty essays and interviews from luminaries such as Jane Goodall, Ted Turner, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and the former head of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Why Life Matters is an accessible title for readers. The book provides critical background information to readers interested in international affairs, natural history and the arts, as well as offers important insight for experienced ecologists.

Essays cover topics ranging from ethics, science and technology, to ecological literacy, economics, grass-roots renaissance activism and conservation innovation from all corners of the globe. Essays can be read one at a time, but taken together form an invigorating, outspoken, provocative and eloquent overview of the ecological humanities in one highly accessible volume. A relevant and resonating read, Why Life Matters also contains stunning color photographs by the authors as well as many of the contributors, making the book a feast for both the mind and the eyes.

Michael Charles Tobias and Jane Gray Morrison are partners who have produced a prolific body of work that has been read, translated and/or broadcast around the world. Their research embodies field work in such disciplines as ecology, comparative literature, anthropology, the history of science, philosophy and ethics in nearly 100 countries. They run the Dancing Star Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to international biodiversity conservation, animal protection and environmental education.

Michael Charles Tobias | Jane Gray Morrison

Why Life Matters: Fifty Ecosystems of the Heart and Mind

2014, XIX, 419 p. 258 illus., 248 illus. in color

Hardcover €29.99 | £16.99 | $29.99

ISBN 978-3-319-07859-5

Also available as an eBook