Destination of the Species

This is an impressive book by the former Secretary of State for the Environment. It is exceptionally well-informed and wide ranging, the result of decades of study and thought. The first part concentrates on the story of humans in the universe, while the second provides a more analytical assessment of the evidence. Among the topics covered are the origins of the universe, fine tuning, evolution and the origin of life, the appearance of life-forms and the human species, and the evolution of spirituality. The main question is the purpose of existence, to which two contrasting answers are given by science and religion. There can be no definitive view, but each generation seeks to address the question as best it can. The structure of each chapter is to consider the relative merits of different models and approaches before discussing the implications at the end. The reader is taken through step-by-step and invited to consider the pros and cons of different positions. In the second part, the status of religious claims is examined, including the existence of God and the nature of Revelation. Purpose is considered in relation to find tuning and the author considers it anti-empirical to deny our universal experience of purpose.

This leads on to a more general discussion of the shifting understanding of scientific and religious truth, which he sees as powerful explanations at different levels of reality, which are nevertheless flawed if pressed as universal principles. Religion has to be seen as emergent within a wider context of a self-realising universe. The final chapter asks the question 'who then are we?' The answer is both metaphysical and practical when it comes to evolution and the future of the planet. The author brings in our current environmental challenges which threaten to terminate human ascendancy. He sees our ultimate destiny as living creatively and co-operatively within the finely balanced systems of the cosmos rather than an extension of our current power and technological mastery based on competitiveness, greed and self-interest. This will require a far greater application of our spiritual capacity since, as he puts it 'the challenge now for humans is not transform the world, but to transform themselves.'