--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Known as the biosphere to scientists and…" description: "\"Known as the biosphere to scientists and as the creation to theologians, all of life together consists of a membrane around earth so thin that it canno..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4e/e-o-wilson-1348_biosphere_known-as-the-biosphere-to-scientists-and_1268260.png" --- # Known as the biosphere to scientists and as the creation… ![“Known as the biosphere to scientists and as the creation to theologians, all of life together consists of a membrane around earth so thin that it cannot be seen edgewise from a satellite yet so prodigiously diverse that only a tiny fraction of species have been discovered and named.” quote by E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4e/e-o-wilson-1348_biosphere_known-as-the-biosphere-to-scientists-and_1268260.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4e/e-o-wilson-1348_biosphere_known-as-the-biosphere-to-scientists-and_1268260.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4e/e-o-wilson-1348_biosphere_known-as-the-biosphere-to-scientists-and_1268260.png) > “Known as the biosphere to scientists and as the creation to theologians, all of life together consists of a membrane around earth so thin that it cannot be seen edgewise from a satellite yet so prodigiously diverse that only a tiny fraction of species have been discovered and named.” [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Earth’s biosphere is a thin, barely visible membrane teeming with immense, largely undiscovered biodiversity. **In simple terms:** Earth’s thin membrane holds huge unseen life. Key Takeaway Support biodiversity research. Themes environment science diversity Mood concerned inspired Type educational activist When to use this quote - policy making - education - field research - media outreach Key Concepts ecology conservation biology Questions to Reflect On - What actions can protect unseen species? - How does awareness change behavior? A Different Perspective Human impact threatens unknown species. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biosphere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biosphere/) [Biosphere Scientists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biosphere-scientists-4056320/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Diverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diverse/) [Diversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diversity/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Fractions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fractions/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/known/) [Known Biosphere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/known-biosphere-4056319/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Consists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-consists/) [Life together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-together/) [Membrane Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/membrane-earth-4056321/) [Membranes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/membranes/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Satellites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satellites/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Species](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/species/) [Theologian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/) [Tiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tiny/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) ## Related quotes > [It's always been a dream of mine, of exploring the living world, of classifying all the species and finding out what makes up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/it-s-always-been-a-dream-of-mine-of-exploring-the-living-world-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The human juggernaut is permanently eroding Earth's ancient biosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-human-juggernaut-is-permanently-eroding-earth-s-ancient-biosphere/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Biology is a science of three dimensions. The first is the study of each species across all levels of biological organization, molecule to cell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/biology-is-a-science-of-three-dimensions-the-first-is-the-study-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The living environment is the biosphere, the thin layer around the world of living organisms. We're part of that. Our existence is dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-living-environment-is-the-biosphere-the-thin-layer-around-the/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The cause of Sense, is the External Body, or Object, which presseth the organ proper to each Sense, either immediately, as in theTaste and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/the-cause-of-sense-is-the-external-body-or-object-which-presseth-the/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [The vestibule door opens onto a June morning so fine and scrubbed Classira pauses at the threshold as she would at the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/the-vestibule-door-opens-onto-a-june-morning-so-fine-and-scrubbed/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [We remake the world through our technologies, and these in turn remake and extend us, in ever spiraling lattices of complexity. McLuhan uncannily foresaw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-w-powe/we-remake-the-world-through-our-technologies-and-these-in-turn-remake/) [B. W. Powe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-w-powe/) > [Stories have a tendency to seep across the shining membrane walls separating the universes. They whisper and flutter like the feathers of birds, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/stories-have-a-tendency-to-seep-across-the-shining-membrane-walls/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [There is no knowing beyond that membrane, the meniscus of death. What can be seen from here is distorted, refracted. All we can know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/there-is-no-knowing-beyond-that-membrane-the-meniscus-of-death-what/) [China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [She stands and moves within the invisible pentacle of her own virginity. She is an unbroken egg: she is a sealed vessel; she has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/she-stands-and-moves-within-the-invisible-pentacle-of-her-own/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [For some people, getting pregnant is as easy as catching cold." And there certainly was an analogy there: Colds and babies were both caused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/for-some-people-getting-pregnant-is-as-easy-as-catching-cold-and/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [We fear discovering that we are more than we think we are. More than our parents/children/teachers think we are. We fear that we actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/we-fear-discovering-that-we-are-more-than-we-think-we-are-more-than/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Hell was a living place inside every membrane of flesh that temporarily passed itself off as human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-nevill/hell-was-a-living-place-inside-every-membrane-of-flesh-that/) [Adam Nevill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-nevill/) > [The world was full of beauty. She wanted to grab hold of it and take it down into her bones. Yet always it seemed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-zarr/the-world-was-full-of-beauty-she-wanted-to-grab-hold-of-it-and-take/) [Sara Zarr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-zarr/) > [The distinguishing of the strata, or layers, in the embryonic membrane was a turning-point in the study of the history of evolution, and placed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ernst-von-baer/the-distinguishing-of-the-strata-or-layers-in-the-embryonic-membrane/) [Karl Ernst von Baer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ernst-von-baer/) ## More by E. O. Wilson > [Without a trace of irony I can say I have been blessed with brilliant enemies. I owe them a great debt, because they redoubled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/without-a-trace-of-irony-i-can-say-i-have-been-blessed-with-brilliant/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [It's always been a dream of mine, of exploring the living world, of classifying all the species and finding out what makes up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/it-s-always-been-a-dream-of-mine-of-exploring-the-living-world-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Competing is intense among humans, and within a group, selfish individuals always win. But in contests between groups, groups of altruists always beat groups…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/competing-is-intense-among-humans-and-within-a-group-selfish/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [When all else fails, men turn to reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/when-all-else-fails-men-turn-to-reason/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The commitment must be much deeper - to let no species knowingly die; to take all reasonable action to protect every species and race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-commitment-must-be-much-deeper-to-let-no-species-knowingly-die-to/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Science is not marginal. Like art, it is a universal possession of humanity, and scientific knowledge has become a vital part of our species'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/science-is-not-marginal-like-art-it-is-a-universal-possession-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The living environment is the biosphere, the thin layer around the world of living organisms. We're part of that. Our existence is dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-living-environment-is-the-biosphere-the-thin-layer-around-the/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The biological evolutionary perception of life and of human qualities is radically different from that of traditional religion, whether it's Southern Baptist or Islam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-biological-evolutionary-perception-of-life-and-of-human-qualities/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/we-should-preserve-every-scrap-of-biodiversity-as-priceless-while-we/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [In many environments, take away the ants and there would be partial collapses in many of the land ecosystems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/in-many-environments-take-away-the-ants-and-there-would-be-partial/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [If those committed to the quest fail, they will be forgiven. When lost, they will find another way. The moral imperative of humanism is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/if-those-committed-to-the-quest-fail-they-will-be-forgiven-when-lost/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The extinctions ongoing worldwide promise to be at least as great as the mass extinction that occurred at the end of the age of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-extinctions-ongoing-worldwide-promise-to-be-at-least-as-great-as/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Most people are surprised when they hear my somber figures: we know of 2 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms, and we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/most-people-are-surprised-when-they-hear-my-somber-figures-we-know-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Because the living environment is what really sustains us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/because-the-living-environment-is-what-really-sustains-us/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The variety of genes on the planet in viruses exceeds, or is likely to exceed, that in all of the rest of life combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-variety-of-genes-on-the-planet-in-viruses-exceeds-or-is-likely-to/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) [Explore all 253 E. O. Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) ## More Biosphere quotes > [It's always been a dream of mine, of exploring the living world, of classifying all the species and finding out what makes up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/it-s-always-been-a-dream-of-mine-of-exploring-the-living-world-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The living environment is the biosphere, the thin layer around the world of living organisms. We're part of that. Our existence is dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/the-living-environment-is-the-biosphere-the-thin-layer-around-the/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Using less of the Earth’s resources more efficiently and productively in a circular economy and making the transition from carbon-based fuels to renewable energies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-rifkin/using-less-of-the-earth-s-resources-more-efficiently-and-productively/) [Jeremy Rifkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-rifkin/) > [I firmly believe that contemporary spiritual use of entheogenic drugs is one of humankind's brightest hopes for overcoming the ecological crisis from which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ott/i-firmly-believe-that-contemporary-spiritual-use-of-entheogenic-drugs/) [Jonathan Ott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ott/) > [The schedules are crammed with shows urging us to travel further, drive faster, build bigger, buy more, yet none of them are deemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/the-schedules-are-crammed-with-shows-urging-us-to-travel-further/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [Certainly for me, as an astrobiologist, science fiction has played an important role. One of the quandaries of our field is that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/certainly-for-me-as-an-astrobiologist-science-fiction-has-played-an/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [“Nothing is more important to human beings than an ecologically functioning, life sustaining biosphere on the earth. It is the only habitable place we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-guth/nothing-is-more-important-to-human-beings-than-an-ecologically/) [Joseph Guth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-guth/) > [ “\[Religious belief is\] outmoded and ridiculous. \[Belief in gods was a\] worn out but once useful crutch in mankind's journey towards truth. We consider… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-w-atkins/religious-belief-is-outmoded-and-ridiculous-belief-in-gods-was-a-worn/) [P.W. Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-w-atkins/) > [Plants with leaves no more efficient than today's solar cells could out-compete real plants, crowding the biosphere with an inedible foliage. Tough omnivorous bacteria…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-eric-drexler/plants-with-leaves-no-more-efficient-than-today-s-solar-cells-could/) [K. Eric Drexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-eric-drexler/) > [The ability of human beings to be creative depends fundamentally on the health and well-being of our biosphere, the few kilometres of air, water,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-patterson/the-ability-of-human-beings-to-be-creative-depends-fundamentally-on/) [Freeman Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-patterson/) > [Protecting the biosphere should be our highest priority or else we sicken and die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/protecting-the-biosphere-should-be-our-highest-priority-or-else-we/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [This is suicidal... our home is the biosphere. That's a very thin layer of air, water and land where all life exists. It's fixed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/this-is-suicidal-our-home-is-the-biosphere-that-s-a-very-thin-layer/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [...no matter how complex or affluent, human societies are nothing but subsystems of the biosphere, the Earth's thin veneer of life, which is ultimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-smil/no-matter-how-complex-or-affluent-human-societies-are-nothing-but/) [Vaclav Smil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-smil/) > [Keep an eye on the weather, which is changing faster than predicted, and on the new diseases escaping or being made, even as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/keep-an-eye-on-the-weather-which-is-changing-faster-than-predicted/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [There are some things in the world we can't change...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/there-are-some-things-in-the-world-we-can-t-change/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) [Browse all 85 Biosphere quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biosphere/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Known as the biosphere to scientists and as the creation to theologians, all of life together consists of a membrane around earth so thin that it cannot be seen edgewise from a satellite yet so prodigiously diverse that only a tiny fraction of species have been discovered and named.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E. 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