Nature: Western Attitudes Since Ancient Times
In an advertisement for water filter cartridges, we see a tumbling waterfall. The caption reads, "Like nature, Brita is beautifully simple." What kind of thinking is this? Is nature an objective reality that, in its beautiful simplicity, is unaffected by time, culture, and place? The word nature itself: what do we actually mean by it? These are some of the riveting questions examined by Peter Coates as he demonstrates that nature, like us, has a history of its own. Beginning with Roman...
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"I am very impressed with this book. It offers much more depth on most of the historical periods than any other book I've read. . . . I couldn't stop reading it."—Michael Barbour, University of California, Davis"This stimulating book covers a great deal of ground—from Classical and Christian theories to the Enlightenment and Romanticism and up to modern times—without overloading the reader in mere detail."—Roy Porter, Wellcome Institute David Craig Peter Coates's study of the evolving meaning of 'nature', in Europe and North America, is preoccupied with the human tendency to invade nature, altering, exploiting and 'reinventing' it....His strength lies in his method of weighing up someone's case or view...by testing it against what was happening on the ground. —London Review of Books
1The natures of nature12Ancient Greece and Rome233The Middle Ages404The advent of modernity675The world beyond Europe826Nature as landscape1107Reassessments of nature : romantic and ecological1258The disunited colours of nature1459The future of nature173
\ Los Angeles Times Book ReviewCoates...begins with definition: What is this main character whose life story we would understand? A shape-changer, really; Nature has dozens of forms and faces, presenting a confusion of narrative threads. Coates untangles them well.\ \ \ \ \ David CraigPeter Coates's study of the evolving meaning of 'nature', in Europe and North America, is preoccupied with the human tendency to invade nature, altering, exploiting and 'reinventing' it....His strength lies in his method of weighing up someone's case or view...by testing it against what was happening on the ground. —London Review of Books\ \ \ David CraigPeter Coates's study of the evolving meaning of 'nature', in Europe and North America, is preoccupied with the human tendency to invade nature, altering, exploiting and 'reinventing' it....His strength lies in his method of weighing up someone's case or view...by testing it against what was happening on the ground.\ — London Review of Books\ \
