Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
How much of science is culturally constructed? How much depends on language and metaphor? How do our ideas about nature connect with reality? Can nature be reinvented through theme parks and malls, or through restoration?
Reinventing Nature? is an interdisciplinary investigation of how perceptions and conceptions of nature affect both the individual experience and society's management of nature. Leading thinkers from a variety of fields -- philosophy, psychology, sociology, public policy, forestry, and others -- address the conflict between perception and reality of nature, each from a different perspective. The editors of the volume provide an insightful introductory chapter that places the book in the context of contemporary debates and a concluding chapter that brings together themes and draws conclusions from the dialogue.
In addition to the editors, contributors include Albert Borgmann, David Graber, N. Katherine Hayles, Stephen R. Kellert, Gary P. Nabhan, Paul Shepard, and Donald Worster.
About the Author
At the time of publication, Michael E. Soule was professor and chair of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His research interests include morphological and genetic variation in natural populations of animals, island biogeography, and conservation biology. He was the founder and first president of the Society for Conservation Biology and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Gary Lease was professor of history of consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has served in a wide variety of chairships, including environmental studies for three years; since 1990 he also has been dean of humanities. He took his doctorate at the University of Munich in history of theology. His ongoing work is concentrated in the history of religious thought in nineteenth and twentieth century Germany and late-antiquity Mediterranean religious history. He has published extensively in these areas.