The Peru I Know

I lived and worked in some of the areas described in "Life and Death in a Dry Land," by George Black (Winter 2011), while serving in the Peace Corps from 1962 to 1964. I returned in 1970 (after the earthquake) and again in 2008. I found the article profoundly interesting, and when combined with the increase in population in those areas that I saw for myself over the years, it all rings a very loud alarm bell indeed.

Posted online by John O'Brien

Really, Dr. Wilson?

I found your interview with E. O. Wilson in "The Human Factor," by Elizabeth Kolbert (Winter 2011), fascinating. I was brought up short, however, by the following: "[Future] agriculture has to be based on…genetically modified crops that can produce high yields without sucking up the world's remaining groundwater." Then comes Wilson's next thought: "At the same time, we've got to save what's left -- biological diversity." An interesting juxtaposition, since agriculture itself has lost biological diversity. Thousands of food plants, including many drought-resistant varieties, have been eliminated or made scarce all around the world by a handful of corporations aided by U.S. policymakers.

Vicki Berglund
Kalamazoo, Michigan

Kolbert's interview with E. O. Wilson was marred by an error. Wilson most certainly did not create "more or less singlehandedly" a "whole new field of inquiry: sociobiology." I recall a dozen or so major researchers in anthropology, primatology, behavioral biology, and psychology who were actively creating this field prior to the publication of Wilson's Sociobiology, in 1975. The approach emerged inevitably from growing concern for selection above the level of the individual and the recognition of genetic inheritance of behavioral patterns.

Jeffrey M. Dickemann
Richmond, California

Poor Vision

"Roadmap to the Future," by Daniel Grushkin and Gary Hovland (Winter 2011), does a disservice by not emphasizing walking and bicycling. High-tech limited-access roadways (elevated in your depiction) and motor vehicle dependence (where's the coal plant?) are neither a healthy vision nor likely to be much more than a fantasy.

Posted online by David D.

Connecting the Dots

In "A Hidden Cost of Farming" (Winter 2011), Daniel Grushkin writes about the danger of running out of phosphorus fertilizer. You ought to get him in touch with Sasha Kramer, whose work on using human waste as fertilizer you showcased a few pages later in "The Virtues of Human Waste," by Jocelyn C. Zuckerman. Human waste (preferably well composted) has been used as a fertilizer for thousands of years in China, so we know it works. And you don't even have to mine it.

Louise Quigley
Milwaukee, Wisconsin