|
Great Non-Fiction Nature Reads |
|
|
Nature : Walking
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Two landmark essays establish the themes and style of American nature writing. Reissue.
|
|
|
Under a white sky : the nature of the future
by Elizabeth Kolbert
"The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction returns to humanity's transformative impact on the environment, now asking: After doing so much damage, can we change nature, this time to save it? That man should have dominion "over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" is a prophecy that has hardened into fact. So pervasive are human impacts on the planet that it's said we live in a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. In Under a White Sky, Elizabeth Kolbert takes a hard look at the new world we are creating. She meets scientists who are trying to preserve the world's rarest fish, which lives in a single, tiny pool in the middle of the Mojave. She visits a lava field in Iceland, where engineers are turning carbon emissions to stone; an aquarium in Australia, where researchers are trying to develop "super coral" that can survive on a hotter globe; and a lab at Harvard, where physicists are contemplating shooting tiny diamonds into the stratosphere in order to reflect sunlight back to space and cool the earth. One way to look at human civilization, says Kolbert, is as a ten-thousand-year exercise in defying nature. In The Sixth Extinction, she explored the ways in which our capacity for destruction has reshaped the natural world. Now she examines how the very sorts of interventions that have imperiled our planet are increasingly seen as the only hope for its salvation. By turns inspiring, terrifying, and darkly comic, Under a White Sky is an utterly original examination of the challenges we face"
|
|
|
When the Wild Comes Leaping Up : Personal Encounters With Nature
by David Suzuki
A powerful collection of personal experiences with nature.In this eloquent collection, award-winning writers from the United States, Canada, the UK and Australia describe a personal encounter with the natural world that moved them, enhanced their understanding of nature, changed them, or was in some other way of prime importance to them. These essays describe childhood memories, everyday walks transformed into life-changing events, being in the grip of a great force, startling encounters with wild animals, and even one fantasy, and they are funny, sad, reflective, exciting, optimistic, pessimistic, nostalgic, and outlandish. Each one presents a singular experience of enlightenment, awe, passion, outrage, sadness, or exhilaration. All are beautifully written and powerfully felt.
|
|
|
In Praise of Paths : Walking Through Time and Nature
by Torbjørn Ekelund
An ode to paths and the journeys we take through nature, as told by a gifted writer who stopped driving and rediscovered the joys of traveling by foot. Torbjørn Ekelund started to walk—everywhere—after an epilepsy diagnosis affected his ability to drive. The more he ventured out, the more he came to love the act of walking, and an interest in paths emerged. In this poignant, meandering book, Ekelund interweaves the literature and history of paths with his own stories from the trail. As he walks with shoes on and barefoot, through forest creeks and across urban streets, he contemplates the early tracks made by ancient snails and traces the wanderings of Romantic poets, amongst other musings. If we still “understand ourselves in relation to the landscape,” Ekelund asks, then what do we lose in an era of car travel and navigation apps? And what will we gain from taking to paths once again?
|
|
|
Braiding sweetgrass : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
"As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on "a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise.""
|
|
|
The outermost house : a year of life on the great beach of Cape Cod
by Henry Beston
The seventy-fifth anniversary edition of the classic book about Cape Cod, "written with simplicity, sympathy, and beauty" (New York Herald Tribune)A chronicle of a solitary year spent on a Cape Cod beach, The Outermost House has long been recognized as a classic of American nature writing. Henry Beston had originally planned to spend just two weeks in his seaside home, but was so possessed by the mysterious beauty of his surroundings that he found he "could not go."Instead, he sat down to try and capture in words the wonders of the magical landscape he found himself in thrall to: the migrations of seabirds, the rhythms of the tide, the windblown dunes, and the scatter of stars in the changing summer sky. Beston argued that, "The world today is sick to its thin blood for the lack of elemental things, for fire before the hands, for water, for air, for the dear earth itself underfoot."
|
|
|
So Little Time : Words and Images for a World in Climate Crisis
by Greg Delanty
So Little Time is a revolving door of political activism, spirituality, nature, and humanity. It is a call to action, where urgency meets poetry in no uncertain terms, and asks, What hour are we in? Edited by poet, Irish and U. S. citizen, and Vermont activist, Greg Delanty, it takes its cue from the grassroots sensibility of Vermont, stripping down decades of unwavering ideals to arrive at an interpretive look at what it means to be 'Green' in an evolving world. A work of education and art as invigorating as the poets, teachers, and activists who inspired it, So Little Time addresses what it means to take up action for something as simple as good, healthy, and clean living. It stands on a fundamental set of questions: What are we looking at? What are we seeing? What's really there? Then asks, What's actually there? So Little Time is more than a coffee table book; rather it is a visual platform, a reflection of a state of mind-clear and focused at the center-that becomes something else around the edges. With a Foreword from John Elder, and poems that feature the work of Greg Delanty and a range of poetry selections, along with quotes from such environmentalists, as BIll McKibben, So Little Time is an interactive and interpretive book that will inspire, enrich, and a call to action in an urgent plea to stop global warming. The book merges poetry and quotes with stunning black and white photography by such artists as Mariana Cook, the last surviving disciple of Ansel Adams.
|
|
|
Underland : a deep time journey
by Robert Macfarlane
Presents an exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and geography, offering unsettling perspectives into whether or not humans are making the correct choices for Earth's future.
|
|
|
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
Winner of the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing Winner of the John Burroughs Medal Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award in Natural History Literature. Brilliant. In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, Elisabeth Tova Bailey shares an inspiring and intimate story of her encounter with a common woodland snail. While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater understanding of her own place in the world. Intrigued by the snail's molluscan anatomy, cryptic defenses, clear decision making, hydraulic locomotion, and courtship activities, Bailey becomes an astute and amused observer, offering a candid and engaging look into the curious life of this underappreciated small animal.The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is a remarkable journey of survival and resilience, showing us how a small part of the natural world can illuminate our own human existence, while providing an appreciation of what it means to be fully alive.
|
|
|
The Sense of Wonder : A Celebration of Nature for Parents and Children
by Rachel Carson
Synopsis First published a half-century ago, Rachel Carson's award-winning The Sense of Wonder remains the classic guide to introducing children to the marvels of natureIn 1955, acclaimed conservationist Rachel Carson&;author of Silent Spring&;began work on an essay that she would come to consider one of her life&;s most important projects. Her grandnephew, Roger Christie, had visited Carson that summer at her cottage in Maine, and together they had wandered the surrounding woods and tide pools. Teaching Roger about the natural wonders around them, Carson began to see them anew herself, and wanted to relate that same magical feeling to others who might hope to introduce a child to the beauty of nature. &;If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder,&; writes Carson, &;he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.&;Now available in paperback, The Sense of Wonder is a timeless volume that will be passed on from generation to generation, as treasured as the memory of an early-morning walk when the song of a whippoorwill was heard as if for the first time. Featuring serene color photographs from renowned photographer Nick Kelsh, &;this beautifully illustrated edition makes a fine gift for new and prospective mothers and fathers&; (Gregory McNamee), and helps us all to tap into the extraordinary power of the natural world.
|
|
|
Earth keeper : reflections on the American land
by N. Scott Momaday
A Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet celebrates the oral tradition of his Native American culture as he recalls the stories of his childhood, passed down for generations, and their profound and sacred connection to the natural world.
|
|
|
Fathoms : The World in the Whale
by Rebecca Giggs
Blending together natural history, philosophy and science, this stunning meditation on the extraordinary lives of whales takes readers on an exploration of the natural world to reveal what whales can teach us about ourselves, our planet and our relationship to other species. 50,000 first printing. Illustrations.
|
|
|
Time and Tide in Acadia : Seasons on Mount Desert Island
by Christopher Camuto
Draws on years of the author's walking and kayaking tours of Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park to describe their rich landscapes and wildlife, in an account that combines points of historical interest with the author's views on the psychological and philosophical appeal of nature.
|
|
|
Miracle country : a memoir
by Kendra Atleework
Describes how the author's thriving childhood in the natural desert landscape of the Eastern Sierra Nevada was upended by her mother's tragic early death and how the region of her youth has been ravaged by climate change.
|
|
|
Crossing Open Ground
by Barry Lopez
National Book Award winning author Barry Lopez explores the challenges and joys of the human experience through the frame of the natural world in fourteen arresting and extraordinary essays. In Crossing Open Ground, award-winning literary writer Barry Lopez offers prescient, beautiful, and thought-provoking reflections on how the natural world can define and illuminate our sense of self. Whether he&;s traversing the Arctic tundra or the deserts of the American Southwest, recalling the devastating beaching of forty-one sperm whales along the Oregon coast or reveling in the remarkable migrations of wild geese, Lopez shows readers the world's special places, its remarkable people, and stunning natural events. He thoughtfully explores humankind's place in this vast natural scheme, and opens our eyes to its breathtaking complexity. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Barry Lopez including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.
|
|
|
|
|
|