The Way of Natural History

by Thomas Lowe Fleischner (Editor)

Overview

In this eclectic anthology, more than 20 scientists, nature writers, poets, and Zen practitioners, attest to how paying attention to nature can be a healing antidote to the hectic and harrying pace of our lives. Throughout this provocative and uplifting book, writers describe their various experiences in nature and portray how careful, and mindful, attention to the larger world around us brings rewarding and surprising discoveries. They give us the literary, personal, and spiritual stories that point a way toward calm and quiet for which many people today hunger. Contributors to The Way of Natural History highlight their individual ways of paying attention to nature and discuss how their experiences have enlivened and enhanced their worlds. The anthology is a rich array of writings that provide models for interacting with the natural world, and together, create a call for the importance of natural history as a discipline. Contributors include Robert Aitken, John Anderson, Paul Dayton, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Cristina Eisenberg, Dave Foreman, Wren Farris, Thomas Lowe Fleischner, Charles Goodrich, R. Edward Grumbine, Jane Hirshfield, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Ken Lamberton, Robert Macfarlane, Kathleen Dean Moore, Robert Michael Pyle, Sarah Juniper Rabkin, Scott Russell Sanders, Laura Sewall, John Tallmadge, Richard Thompson, and Stephen C. Trombula.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595340740
Publisher:	Trinity University Press
Publication date:	05/01/2011
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	204
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Thomas Lowe Fleischner is a naturalist, conservation biologist, teacher, and Director of the Natural History Institute. The author of two books—Singing Stone: A Natural History of the Escalante Canyons and Desert Wetlands—and numerous articles, he is a professor of environmental studies at Prescott College, in Arizona, where he has taught for over two decades. Cofounder of the North Cascades Institute and founding president of the Natural History Network, he has also served on the board of governors of the Society for Conservation Biology and as president of its Colorado Plateau Chapter.

Table of Contents

The Supple Deer Jane Hirshfield 1

The Mindfulness of Natural History Thomas Lowe Fleischner 3

Crazy about Nature John Tallmadge 16

Noctambulism Robert Macfarlane 29

Perceiving a World of Relations Laura Sewall 42

Sauntering toward Bethlehem John Anderson 53

The Grounding of a Marine Biologist Paul Dayton 65

Lessons from 763 Cristina Eisenberg 81

Notes toward a Natural History of Dams R. Edward Grumbine 91

Talking to Wild Things Dave Foreman 101

Eyes of the World Sarah Juniper Rabkin 103

The Gardener Gets Arrested Charles Goodrich 113

Music and the Natural World Richard Thompson 120

Becoming a Neighbor Stephen C. Trombulak 126

Long Silent Affair Wren Farris 137

Bear Sign (On Joyous Attention) Kathleen Dean Moore 144

Yard Birds Ken Lamberton 151

Maintenance Robert Aitken 155

A Nat'ral Histerrical Feller in an Unwondering Age Robert Michael Pyle 160

Attending to the Beautiful Mess of the World Alison Hawthorne Deming 174

Witness to the Rain Robin Wall Kimmerer 187

Mind in the Forest Scott Russell Sanders 196

Contributors 213