Overview

"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 times, Coates investigates the ideological and material factors that have influenced human perceptions of, attitudes toward, and uses of nature--notably religion and ethics, science, technology, economics, gender, and ethnicity. Nature is seen among its rich panoply of meanings as a physical place, as the collective phenomena of the world, as an essence or principle that informs the workings of the world, as an inspiration and guide for people and a source of authority governing human affairs, and as the conceptual opposite of culture. By examining these aspects of nature, Coates leads us on a spectacular tour of the central intellectual forces of Western civilization. The book is essential reading for those who seek an understanding of the history of ideas and the role of nature in that history."

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9780520244788

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Reviews

An exhaustively detailed account of the ever changing history of nature, mostly tied to the political goals of the times. -- The New York Times Nature has dozens of forms and faces, presenting a confusion of narrative threads. Coates untangles them well. -- Los Angeles Times

Author Information

Peter Coates is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Bristol.

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