A standout association copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper in the year of publication: "For Bruce Babbitt with great respect, in hopes he will read at least Chapter 12. E.O. Wilson, April 9, 1998." Babbitt was at the time the Secretary of the Interior, serving in that role from 1993-2001. Before that he was Governor of Arizona from 1978-1987 and then led the League of Conservation Voters for eight years. He was a stalwart environmentalist know for promoting environmental restoration, the Endangered Species Act and biodiversity, and public land conservation. Consilience is possibly Wilson's boldest book and "argues for the fundamental unity of knowledge," bridging science and the humanities. Chapter 12, referenced in the inscription, is the final synthetic chapter "To What End?" Both Babbitt and Wilson were listed among Audubon’s “100 heroes of the environment” of the 20th century, so a wonderful pairing. Quarter black paper and pale green paper boards, black and white pictorial dust jacket, 332 pp. With a "Received ... Office of the Executive Secretariat" ink stamp on the verso of the FFEP. A very good or better copy with bumping to the upper corners of boards and little rubbing to lower board edges. A few formerly dog-eared pages. In a near fine jacket with namely some creasing to spine ends