Visions of the land

About this book

"Visions of the Land looks at the period from 1840 to 1970 through the works of seven explorers, scientists, and writers, in order to examine the various ways our culture has viewed nature. In this ambitious work, Michael A. Bryson draws upon a wide array of references (narratives, technical reports, natural histories, scientific autobiographies, fictional utopias, and popular scientific literature), to better illustrate the constantly changing manner in which our culture has chosen to conceptualize nature. Dividing the book into three parts, "Narratives of Exploration and the Scientist-Hero," "Imagined Communities and the Scientific Management of Nature," and "Nature's Identity and the Critique of Science," Bryson discusses the works of John C. Fremont, Richard Byrd, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, John Wesley Powell, Susan Cooper, Rachel Carson, and Loren Eiseley"--From H-Net.