Download or read book The Way of Nature written by Zhuangzi and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Way of Nature brings together all of Tsai's beguiling cartoon illustrations of the Zhuangzi, which takes its name from its author. The result is a uniquely accessible and entertaining adaptation of a pillar of classical Daoism, which has deeply influenced Chinese poetry, landscape painting, martial arts, and Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Irreverent and inspiring, The Way of Nature presents the memorable characters, fables, and thought experiments of Zhuangzi like no other edition, challenging readers to dig beneath conventional assumptions about self, society, and nature, and pointing to a more natural way of life. Through practical insights and far-reaching arguments, Zhuangzi shows why returning to the spontaneity of nature is the only sane response to a world of conflict."--Provided by publisher

Download or read book The Way of Nature and the Way of Grace written by Vernon W. Cisney and published by Northwestern University Press. This book was released on 2016-06-15 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amid all the controversy, criticism, and celebration of Terrence Malick's award-winning film The Tree of Life, what do we really understand of it? The Way of Nature and the Way of Grace thoughtfully engages the philosophical riches of life, culture, time, and the sacred through Malick's film. This innovative collection traverses the relationships among ontological, moral, scientific, and spiritual perspectives on the world, demonstrating how phenomenological work can be done in and through the cinematic medium, and attempting to bridge the gap between narrow "theoretical" works on film and their broader cultural and philosophical significance. Exploring Malick's film as a philosophical engagement, this readable and insightful collection presents an excellent resource for film specialists, philosophers of film, and film lovers alike.

Download or read book Narrating Nature written by Mara Jill Goldman and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The current environmental crises demand that we revisit dominant approaches for understanding nature-society relations. Narrating Nature brings together various ways of knowing nature from differently situated Maasai and conservation practitioners and scientists into lively debate. It speaks to the growing movement within the academy and beyond on decolonizing knowledge about and relationships with nature, and debates within the social sciences on how to work across epistemologies and ontologies. It also speaks to a growing need within conservation studies to find ways to manage nature with people. This book employs different storytelling practices, including a traditional Maasai oral meeting—the enkiguena—to decenter conventional scientific ways of communicating about, knowing, and managing nature. Author Mara J. Goldman draws on more than two decades of deep ethnographic and ecological engagements in the semi-arid rangelands of East Africa—in landscapes inhabited by pastoral and agropastoral Maasai people and heavily utilized by wildlife. These iconic landscapes have continuously been subjected to boundary drawing practices by outsiders, separating out places for people (villages) from places for nature (protected areas). Narrating Nature follows the resulting boundary crossings that regularly occur—of people, wildlife, and knowledge—to expose them not as transgressions but as opportunities to complicate the categories themselves and create ontological openings for knowing and being with nature otherwise. Narrating Nature opens up dialogue that counters traditional conservation narratives by providing space for local Maasai inhabitants to share their ways of knowing and being with nature. It moves beyond standard community conservation narratives that see local people as beneficiaries or contributors to conservation, to demonstrate how they are essential knowledgeable members of the conservation landscape itself.

Download or read book In the Way of Nature written by Robert Boschman and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-03-18 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring the connections between nature and culture, this volume discusses the works of three female American poets: Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), and Amy Clampitt (1920-1994). Though only Bradstreet was born outside North America, each poet is shown to grapple with the ways that European civilization was transformed on the new continent. The author's analysis highlights the interconnected themes of travel, geography, cartography and wildness.

Download or read book The Nature Fix Why Nature Makes Us Happier Healthier and More Creative written by Florence Williams and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Highly informative and remarkably entertaining." —Elle From forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, to eucalyptus groves in California, Florence Williams investigates the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. Delving into brand-new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.

Download or read book The Wholeness of Nature written by Henri Bortoft and published by SteinerBooks. This book was released on 1996-10 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In the course of every human life, moments come -- often so quietly as to be almost unrecognized -- that are so subtle and unobtrusive, they pass without one being fully aware of them. These moments are like the gentle tones of birds singing in their sleep, the faint sound of a bell ringing far away, or the gentle touch of an invisible hand. "Nevertheless, all these moments, perceived or unperceived, are manifestations of destiny in each human life, 'the evidence of things not seen.' They express the secret language of the heart and invite one to begin a journey. They involve taking important steps on a life path, which one senses instinctively will ultimately lead to the light of one's own higher self and into the world of spiritual reality, the 'land' where the real foundations of life purposes are to be found. Thus, one sets out on a path that can lead to the unfolding of the unique mystery of each individual life story. Such is the substance of the journey described in these pages." --Paul Marshall Allen Paul Allen was born into a Quaker family on June 26, 1913, in the small upstate New York village of Conquest. The life that followed was as varied outwardly as it was deeply committed inwardly to following a path of knowledge. He was a teacher, actor, writer, and publisher, each role connecting him with the world as a "Rosicrucian soul." For Paul, the most important event of destiny occurred when he encountered Rudolf Steiner's spiritual science through the actor Michael Chekhov, leading Paul to dedicate his life to Anthroposophy as a path of inner knowledge and activity in the world. In A Rosicrucian Soul, Russell Pooler takes the reader on a journey through the life of a man who profoundly affected everyone he encountered. During the early days of Anthroposophy in North America, Paul delved deeply into Rudolf Steiner's works and became the "first American-born anthroposophic lecturer," traveling across the continent and bringing the few, far-flung Anthroposophic Society members in North America a greater sense of unity and purpose. In New York City, with Bernie Garber, he began publishing the works of Rudolf Steiner and, with Carlo Pietzner, compiled A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology. Paul Allen eventually started his own publishing company, St. George Book Service, a mail-order book business in western Massachusetts. Later, destiny took Paul and his wife, architect Joan deRis Allen, to Camphill villages in the British Isles and Norway, where they lived, as Paul produced numerous plays, the most significant of which were Rudolf Steiner's Four Mystery Dramas. Throughout this life story, as outer events unfold, the reader is guided to a sense of the inner activities of this very Rosicrucian soul and, perhaps more important, to glimpses of how each of us affects each other through our inner struggles and consequent actions.

Download or read book Patterns in Nature written by Philip Ball and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed science writer “curates a visually striking, riotously colorful photographic display…of physical patterns in the natural world” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Though at first glance the natural world may appear overwhelming in its diversity and complexity, there are regularities running through it, from the hexagons of a honeycomb to the spirals of a seashell and the branching veins of a leaf. Revealing the order at the foundation of the seemingly chaotic natural world, Patterns in Nature explores not only the math and science but also the beauty and artistry behind nature’s awe-inspiring designs. Unlike the patterns we create, natural patterns are formed spontaneously from the forces that act in the physical world. Very often the same types of pattern and form—such as spirals, stripes, branches, and fractals—recur in places that seem to have nothing in common, as when the markings of a zebra mimic the ripples in windblown sand. But many of these patterns can be described using the same mathematical and physical principles, giving a surprising unity to the kaleidoscope of the natural world. Richly illustrated with 250 color photographs and anchored by accessible and insightful chapters by esteemed science writer Philip Ball, Patterns in Nature reveals the organization at work in vast and ancient forests, powerful rivers, massing clouds, and coastlines carved out by the sea. By exploring similarities such as the branches of a tree and those of a river network, this spectacular visual tour conveys the wonder, beauty, and richness of natural pattern formation.

Download or read book Sky Above Earth Below written by John P. Milton and published by Sentient Publications. This book was released on 2006 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Undertake a sacred passage into the temple of nature, guided by meditation master and vision quest leader John P Milton. Since the 1940's, this pioneering spiritual teacher has led over 10,000 vision quests into the wilds of Colorado, the Himalayas, Bali, the Arctic, Mexico, and other sacred sites around the world. Now this pathfinder guides readers back to the wilderness within themselves, to discover how they are connected with the vast and sacred mystery of nature. Highlights include: why meditation in nature is unequaled in its power to transform lives, a full-body meditation for the deepest relaxation of one's life, how nature's healing energy can renew the body, how to clear and open blocked internal pathways to open them to earth's energy, and a 10-minute practice to restore one's internal balance with the natural world.

Download or read book Shinrin Yoku written by Yoshifumi Miyazaki and published by Timber Press. This book was released on 2018-06-12 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times 2018 Holiday Gift Selection Shinrin-yoku is the Japanese practice of seeking a deeper connection with nature by spending intentional time surrounded by trees. Commonly referred to as forest bathing, the meditative practice involves all of our senses and has extraordinary effects on health and happiness. In Shinrin Yoku, Yoshifumi Miyazaki explains the science behind forest bathing and explores the many health benefits, including reduced stress, lower blood pressure, improved mood, and increased focus and energy. This useful guide also teaches you how to bring the benefits of the forest into the home through the use of essential oils, cypress baths, flower therapy, and bonsai. Whether you are exploring a city park, a woodland area, or even the trees in your own backyard, Shinrin Yoku will help you detox from the stress of modern life by opening your eyes to the healing power of trees.

Download or read book Politics of Nature written by Bruno Latour and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major work by one of the more innovative thinkers of our time, Politics of Nature does nothing less than establish the conceptual context for political ecology—transplanting the terms of ecology into more fertile philosophical soil than its proponents have thus far envisioned. Bruno Latour announces his project dramatically: “Political ecology has nothing whatsoever to do with nature, this jumble of Greek philosophy, French Cartesianism and American parks.” Nature, he asserts, far from being an obvious domain of reality, is a way of assembling political order without due process. Thus, his book proposes an end to the old dichotomy between nature and society—and the constitution, in its place, of a collective, a community incorporating humans and nonhumans and building on the experiences of the sciences as they are actually practiced. In a critique of the distinction between fact and value, Latour suggests a redescription of the type of political philosophy implicated in such a “commonsense” division—which here reveals itself as distinctly uncommonsensical and in fact fatal to democracy and to a healthy development of the sciences. Moving beyond the modernist institutions of “mononaturalism” and “multiculturalism,” Latour develops the idea of “multinaturalism,” a complex collectivity determined not by outside experts claiming absolute reason but by “diplomats” who are flexible and open to experimentation.

Download or read book The Sacred Depths of Nature written by Ursula Goodenough and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1998 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Documentary looking at caravan enthusiasts and how they have made their caravans into a way of life. The programme incudes tips from caravan veterans about restoration, interiors, gadgets and accessories.

Download or read book The Way Nature Works written by Macmillan Publishers and published by Wiley. This book was released on 1998-01-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shaping the Planet the Power of the Atmosphere Evolution and Adaptation Reproducing to Survive the Search for Food Movement and Shelter Attack and Defense Senses and Communication the Living Environments More than 900 color illustrations 100 color photographs More than 1,000 species illustrated Extensive cross-references Glossary and extensive indexes

Download or read book The Moral Meaning of Nature written by Peter J. Woodford and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2018-03-28 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What, if anything, does biological evolution tell us about the nature of religion, ethical values, or even the meaning and purpose of life? The Moral Meaning of Nature sheds new light on these enduring questions by examining the significance of an earlier—and unjustly neglected—discussion of Darwin in late nineteenth-century Germany. We start with Friedrich Nietzsche, whose writings staged one of the first confrontations with the Christian tradition using the resources of Darwinian thought. The lebensphilosophie, or “life-philosophy,” that arose from his engagement with evolutionary ideas drew responses from other influential thinkers, including Franz Overbeck, Georg Simmel, and Heinrich Rickert. These critics all offered cogent challenges to Nietzsche’s appropriation of the newly transforming biological sciences, his negotiation between science and religion, and his interpretation of the implications of Darwinian thought. They also each proposed alternative ways of making sense of Nietzsche’s unique question concerning the meaning of biological evolution “for life.” At the heart of the discussion were debates about the relation of facts and values, the place of divine purpose in the understanding of nonhuman and human agency, the concept of life, and the question of whether the sciences could offer resources to satisfy the human urge to discover sources of value in biological processes. The Moral Meaning of Nature focuses on the historical background of these questions, exposing the complex ways in which they recur in contemporary philosophical debate.

Download or read book Nothing Bad Happens in Life written by Kari Hohne and published by Way of Tao Books. This book was released on 2009-05-13 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nothing Bad Happens in Life, Nature's Way of Success presents nature as the ultimate teacher of how to overcome all obstacles. The natural world is relentless in its ability to overcome any barriers to its forward progress and by exploring it's ability to renew itself, you will discover how you are also driven by it's mechanisms of self-determination and rebirth. Life's secret is that it has been committed to your success since the beginning. This illuminating and timely book explores nature's diversities and commitment to growth to reveal its essential goodness. Based on the ancient wisdom of the I Ching and Tao te Ching, this book is a valuable tool for leadership training, or for those in search of a more grounded and natural approach to spirituality and wellness.

Download or read book The Invention of Nature written by Andrea Wulf and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 586 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The acclaimed author of Founding Gardeners reveals the forgotten life of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world—and in the process created modern environmentalism. "Vivid and exciting.... Wulf’s pulsating account brings this dazzling figure back into a dazzling, much-deserved focus.” —The Boston Globe Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was the most famous scientist of his age, a visionary German naturalist and polymath whose discoveries forever changed the way we understand the natural world. Among his most revolutionary ideas was a radical conception of nature as a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone. In North America, Humboldt’s name still graces towns, counties, parks, bays, lakes, mountains, and a river. And yet the man has been all but forgotten. In this illuminating biography, Andrea Wulf brings Humboldt’s extraordinary life back into focus: his prediction of human-induced climate change; his daring expeditions to the highest peaks of South America and to the anthrax-infected steppes of Siberia; his relationships with iconic figures, including Simón Bolívar and Thomas Jefferson; and the lasting influence of his writings on Darwin, Wordsworth, Goethe, Muir, Thoreau, and many others. Brilliantly researched and stunningly written, The Invention of Nature reveals the myriad ways in which Humboldt’s ideas form the foundation of modern environmentalism—and reminds us why they are as prescient and vital as ever.

Download or read book The Republic of Nature written by Mark Fiege and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2012-03-20 with total page 601 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the dramatic narratives that comprise The Republic of Nature, Mark Fiege reframes the canonical account of American history based on the simple but radical premise that nothing in the nation's past can be considered apart from the natural circumstances in which it occurred. Revisiting historical icons so familiar that schoolchildren learn to take them for granted, he makes surprising connections that enable readers to see old stories in a new light. Among the historical moments revisited here, a revolutionary nation arises from its environment and struggles to reconcile the diversity of its people with the claim that nature is the source of liberty. Abraham Lincoln, an unlettered citizen from the countryside, steers the Union through a moment of extreme peril, guided by his clear-eyed vision of nature's capacity for improvement. In Topeka, Kansas, transformations of land and life prompt a lawsuit that culminates in the momentous civil rights case of Brown v. Board of Education. By focusing on materials and processes intrinsic to all things and by highlighting the nature of the United States, Fiege recovers the forgotten and overlooked ground on which so much history has unfolded. In these pages, the nation's birth and development, pain and sorrow, ideals and enduring promise come to life as never before, making a once-familiar past seem new. The Republic of Nature points to a startlingly different version of history that calls on readers to reconnect with fundamental forces that shaped the American experience. For more information, visit the author's website: http://republicofnature.com/

Download or read book Reading the Book of Nature written by Jonathan R. Topham and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2022-10-12 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "When Darwin returned to Britain from the Beagle voyage in 1836, the most talked-about scientific books were the Bridgewater Treatises. This series of eight books was funded by a bequest of the last Earl of Bridgewater, and they were authored by leading men of science, appointed by the President of the Royal Society, and intended to explore "the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as manifested in the creation." Securing public attention beyond all expectations, the series gave Darwin's generation a range of approaches to one of the great questions of the age: how to incorporate the newly emerging disciplinary sciences into Britain's overwhelmingly Christian culture. Drawing on a wealth of archival and published sources, including many unexplored by historians, Jonathan R. Topham examines how and to what extent the series contributed to a sense of congruence between Christianity and the sciences in the generation before the infamous Victorian "conflict between science and religion." He does so by drawing on the distinctive insights of book history, using close attention to the production, circulation, and use of the books to open up new perspectives not only on aspects of early Victorian science but also on the whole subject of science and religion. Its innovative focus on practices of authorship, publishing, and reading helps us to understand the everyday considerations and activities through which the religious culture of early Victorian science was fashioned. And in doing so, Reading the Book of Nature powerfully reimagines the world in which a young Charles Darwin learned how to think about the implications of his theory"--