The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is an ambitious project to organize and make available via the Internet virtually all information about life present on Earth. At its heart lies a series of Web sites—one for each of the approximately 1.8 million known species. Each site is constantly evolving and features dynamically synthesized content ranging from historical literature and biological descriptions to stunning images, videos and distribution maps. Join us as we explore the richness of Earth’s biodiversity!
And here’s an interview with the person behind this amazing project: E.O. Wilson — two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, naturalist and Harvard research professor. The father of the Encyclopedia of Life.
DAVID POGUE: So how did this project come about?
DR. E.O. WILSON: I’ve been in systematics and the mapping of biological diversity all my life. And a little more than ten years ago, I thought the time had come to undertake a complete mapping of the world’s fauna and flora.
Because remarkably–and this is little known even in the scientific community–we’ve only begun to explore this planet. It was 250 years ago this year that Karl Linneus, the great naturalist in Sweden, began what became the official form of biological classification: two names, like “homo sapiens” for us, and ranging the species in hierarchies according to how much they resemble one another. 250 years ago.
And in that period of time, we have found and given names to perhaps one-tenth of what’s on the surface of the earth. We have now found 1.8 million species. But the actual number is almost certainly in excess of 10 million, and could be as high as a hundred million, when you throw in bacteria.
Let me give you an example. Fungi. The world depends on fungi, because they are major players in the cycling of materials and energy around the world. They’re necessary for the health of other organisms. (We should get rid of the idea that fungi are what gives you athlete’s foot…feet.) Some 60,000 species are known, and it’s been estimated by experts that more than 1.5 million exist. So we’ve just begun to explore it. And that’s true, group after group. We’re just beginning.
