Nature has always been complicated. Over two thousand years ago, Persephone, the goddess of spring growth was worshiped along with her mother Demeter in agricultural-based cultures. One day, Hades the god of the underworld spied Persephone as she was playing in a meadow of flowers, fell instantly in love and kidnapped her – taking her back to hell as his bride. Demeter finally discovered Persephone’s whereabouts and demanded her return. Alas, Zeus the most powerful god, who has actually conspired in Persephone’s abduction, was not about to be give in to Demeter. Mistake.
When will these old gods learn? Don’t mess with Mother Nature. Demeter, the Olympian goddess of agriculture, grain and bread, simply stopped the earth from bearing fruit. Zeus caved. But – he added a codicil to the verbal contract: if Persephone ate anything from the underworld she would have to return. Naturally, a complication such as that is too good a story line to pass up. Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds, and for every seed she ate she had to return to Hades for a month every single year. Demeter still mourns Persephone’s yearly return to the underworld, and thus we have six months of cold weather, no crops, or leaves on the trees.
The ancients were in tune to the natural world and, before scientists stuck their noses in, there was an enchanting story to cover pretty much all natural events. Today, we rely on extremely sophisticated scientific equipment to predict our weather, protect us from the elements, and make our lives climate-controlled. Thus, many of us think very little about nature.
Fortunately, there are those who have always been open to the wonder of the natural world, and in more modern times ((1769 – 1858) Alexander Von Humboldt was the most famous one of them all. Who is this Von Humboldt you ask? In his day he was celebrated in his native Germany as well as all through North America and beyond. Yet, due to anti-German sentiment of WWI, he had been consigned to a very obscure spot in history. Andrea Wulf has fixed that in her significant book, “The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt’s New World.” Wulf has made a thorough investigation of Von Humboldt’s early life, his friendships with such notables as the philosopher von Goethe, Karl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Simon Bolivar. Thomas Jefferson admired Von Humboldt and Charles Darwin followed assiduously in his footsteps.
Wulf’s narrative takes us along with Von Humboldt on his journeys through South America, Russia and Siberia. Of course, politics are involved – with Simon Bolivar we should not be surprised – as well as his predictions on such events as human-induced climate change, and the complexity of the interaction of all aspects of the natural world.
Von Humboldt’s adventures, explorations and influences on the great thinkers of his time make for exciting reading. His ideas are still current, Wulf’s writing is dynamic, and I am delighted to find that several towns, rivers, and mountains here in the US are named after him.
Naturally, I want to visit a few of these and perhaps trek along the same paths as Von Humboldt. These are now on my bucket list. If you don’t have a bucket list – write one. It gives us something to always look forward to.
Other people have destination bucket lists. However, if you want to really get into exploration of the natural world the very best resource ever is the newly published “Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders” by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, and Ella Morton. The quote the book begins with is by Abraham Joshua Heschel. “The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living,” Wonder of nature is indeed the focus for these author-explorers.
This book has been divided by continents and then sub-divided by regions within each continent. Naturally, I searched out every place on the globe that I have wandered and checked to see if any of their treasures matched mine. A few did! But many more did not. My list increases.
This is not necessarily a book to read cover to cover. Rather, it is a book to go back to again and again, finding a spot on the planet that fascinates you and then searching out the unusual and wonderful. From there you can read to your heart’s content. Some of the most interesting are the magnificent salt mines of Poland, the hot, intensely salty waters of Lake Natron in Monduli, Arusha, and the Door to Hell in Derweze, Ahal, Turkmenistan; a 200-foot wide crater that has been burning for over 45 years.
It seems that in 1971 Soviet geologists, looking for natural gas in Turkmenistan accidentally burrowed into a huge cavern filled with methane. This caused the ground to crumble and their drilling rig collapsed into the pit. Oops! Once the pocket of gas ruptured, poisonous fumes began leaking from the hole. Uh-oh! To avoid even more of a disaster than they had already created, one of them lit a match and tossed it into the pit. Boom! It has been burning ever since. I am not sure if that wonder is a tribute to ingenuity or stupidity, but eventually someone will hopefully tap the natural gas and run a pipeline. In which case, get there fast because in a few years it might just be closed.
This is just such a fun book to read. The authors have traveled the globe searching out spots that will delight and astonish. When I am feeling stressed I often spin a globe (with my eyes shut) and stop it on a spot with my finger. I read about that spot and imagine myself there. It takes me out of the office for a bit. The “Atlas Obscura” takes me places as well and while I will never eliminate my globe, I must say reading about places of interest around the world certainly lets me think about all the natural wonders of our planet.
Some modern naturalists, however, focus on one aspect of nature. I was particularly taken by “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate,” by Peter Wohllenben.
Also from Germany, Wohllenben is a retired professional forest commissioner, who now maintains a large forest in his native Hummel, Germany. He, like the beloved Lorax of Dr. Seuss fame, speaks for the trees. However, according to Wohllenben – trees also speak for themselves – as well as to each other! This is really cool reading. As a Master Gardener and Forest Society docent, I have had many courses on tree study. Yet, none ever included the communication aspects of trees. For example, one scientific study found that in an undisturbed beech forest, trees synchronize their photosynthesis performance so that they are all equally successful. Variations in soil, water, and nutrients do not make a difference. Each tree certainly experiences different growing conditions, and that would lead us to expect that every tree would be photosynthesizing at a different rate. Yet, the rate of photosynthesis is identical! The trees equalize the difference between the strong and the weak to balance everything out. How this communication is done appears to be through the roots.
The roots also communicate with fungi, and use their leaves to signal each other about invasive insects, so they can all release toxic substances in their leaves, all in the immediate neighborhood. I totally loved this book. Wohlleben weaves science with philosophy, and gives us the opportunity to join him in reflecting on wonders of the natural world. This book is on my giving list for Christmas presents.
I have now a larger bucket list, a Christmas giving list, and three more books that celebrate the world. I am in reading heaven.
Elaine Holden of Peterborough is a nationally recognized expert in the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia. She is the director of The Reading Foundation and senior lecturer at Rivier College Graduate School of Education.