Carol Kaesuk Yoon opines:
We are, all of us, abandoning taxonomy, the ordering and naming of life. We are willfully…losing the ability to order and name and therefore losing a connection to and a place in the living world.
No wonder so few of us can really see what is out there.
Myrmecos Blog 
This essay is really making the rounds — the third separate reference to it I’ve gotten to it today. An easy but poignant read, too.
The genius of my post, James, is that I posted it *yesterday*. Your other two references are merely copycats. 🙂
More thoughtful and less strident than the usual lament. In my experience, Carol Yoon has been one of the few reliable and insightful science journalists (the only one who reported my research correctly and without hype that I can recall). I suppose I should get a copy of her book. Thanks Alex – I somehow missed this making its rounds.