Six billion people live on earth, but we share the planet with trillions of other life-forms, ranging from bacteria to whales. They make up life"s infrastructure and are in effect the underpinnings of human existence. The internationally acclaimed Life Counts shows why we must preserve this biodiversity: if we don"t, scientists predict, the earth may lose the ability to support its inhabitants within the next fifty years. Through breathtaking color illustrations and lively narration, readers learn that each animal on earth -- whose numbers are greater than our galaxy"s stars -- as well as each plant and each microbe, plays a role essential to the life of the planet and, in surprising ways, human economies and health. How can we protect these living things and hence our world? The authors weigh scientist"s and international governments" best ideas. Life Counts: A Worldwide Balance Sheet, winner of the 2000 Scientific Book of the Year award in Germany and recipient of a Distinctive Merit award from the Art Directors Clubs of both New York and Germany, is part of the larger Life Counts Project, designed to raise awareness across the globe of the importance of the world"s biodiversity. "Not a single page is boring ... Instead of rows of dry tables, the authors tell stories in words and pictures." -- Bild der Wissenschaft (Germany) "Life Counts provides the best sort of infotainment. -- Die Zeit (Germany)