In this work, the author argues for the fundamental unity of all knowledge and the need to search for what he calls consilience, the composition of the principles governing every branch of learning. Edward O. Wilson, pioneer of sociobiology and biodiversity, breaks from the conventions of current thinking. He shows how our explosive rise in intellectual mastery of the truths of our universe has its roots in the ancient Greek concept of an intrinsic orderliness that governs our cosmos vision. This vision found its apogee in the Age of Enlightenment, then gradually was lost in the increasing...