One of the world’s most distinguished scientists, E.O. Wilson is a professor and honorary curator in entomology at Harvard. In 1975, he published Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, a work that described social behavior, from ants to humans.

Drawing from his deep knowledge of the Earth’s “little creatures” and his sense that their contribution to the planet’s ecology is underappreciated, he produced what may be his most important book, The Diversity of Life. In it he describes how an intricately interconnected natural system is threatened by man’s encroachment, in a crisis he calls the “sixth extinction” (the fifth one wiped out the dinosaurs).

In this video, E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize. He makes a plea on behalf of his constituents, the insects and small creatures, that we should all learn more about our biosphere. We know so little about nature, he says, that we’re still discovering tiny organisms indispensable to life; yet we’re still steadily destroying nature. Wilson identifies five grave threats to biodiversity (a term he coined), using the acronym HIPPO, and makes his TED wish: that we will work together on the Encyclopedia of Life, a web-based compendium of data from scientists and amateurs on every aspect of the biosphere.

If done properly, this is gonna be huge!!!