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Edward Wilson came to London to accept the Sir Peter Kent Conservation
Prize for his Diversity of Life (Review, 19 February) – and stayed to be
made a foreign fellow of the Royal Society later the same day. Jonathon
Porritt, presenting the award, spoke of the need for books as excellent
as Diversity of Life to inspire people, adding that his life as a green
activist had begun in books. He suggested that the next step after awarding
prizes was to get the books out to the public, and that more active promotion
was needed. Jo Readman won the children’s category with Muck and Magic,
a book about gardening and wildlife. A delightful book, said Porritt, confessing
that he had the opposite of green fingers, killing everything he tried to
grow – a sad trait for a green activist.