How much is really known about the species that make up the natural world? In this fascinating book, Ken Thompson explains what we do and don't understand about biodiversity. We know that most species remain undiscovered, and that biodiversity is gravely threatened by overfishing, habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. Life on Earth has previously experienced five episodes of mass extinction, and we are now in the middle of a sixth. "Do We Need Pandas?" surveys the Earth's biodiversity, its origins, and some of the threats it currently faces. It then asks how biodiversity loss will...