14 May 2007

Dr Edward O Wilson who is one of the world’s greatest scientists says that the new Encyclopedia of Life will be the biggest thing since Linnaeus.

The project is breathtaking in its scope and is only conceivable because of modern advances in information technology. The plan is to have a catalogue of all published data for every species on Earth, including detailed photographs. It will be hosted by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC and available to all for free through the internet. The synergy resulting from grouping all these data will be unique in history – it will be possible to extract and collate complex information fast and specifically, for example to list all the known native predators of an invasive species and their ecology, or model in detail how changes in the environment would impact on a given an ecosystem and its biodiversity.