The text opens with a photograph of the author in the field and an image of a single-celled organism found in the ocean, called Orbulina universa.

Edward Wilson begins Letters to a Young Scientist by addressing the reader as a friend and assuring them that they have come to the right place. He wants to offer the reader (the titular “young scientist”) the knowledge, thoughts, and stories that he has accumulated over the course of his long and successful career as a biologist. The world needs scientists badly now, and scientific knowledge is growing at an exponential rate, “[doubling] every fifteen to twenty years” (14), with the help of technology. Despite this, Wilson argues, there is still a “pit of ignorance about biodiversity” (15), and the total number of species on Earth is still unknown. This ignorance presents a great deal of opportunity for scientific study. Wilson hopes that through his own stories and anecdotes, he can educate budding scientists about the challenges and rewards of a life in the sciences.

There is an image at the start of the chapter of a Boy Scout zoology badge. 

Wilson’s first letter outlines how he first became interested in science. As a young teen, he spent a lot of time exploring the biodiversity of the swamps and forests of Mobile, Alabama, where he grew up.