Walden's Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century ScienceBy Robert M. Thorson

Walden's Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century ScienceBy Robert M. Thorson

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Walden's Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century ScienceBy Robert M. Thorson

Download PDF Ebook Walden's Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century ScienceBy Robert M. Thorson

Walden’s Shore explores Thoreau’s understanding of the “living rock” on which life’s complexity depends―not as metaphor but as physical science. Robert Thorson’s subject is Thoreau the rock and mineral collector, interpreter of landscapes, and field scientist, whose compass and measuring stick were as important to him as his plant press.

Walden's Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century ScienceBy Robert M. Thorson

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2832312 in Books
• Published on: 2015-09-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.00" h x 1.00" w x 5.70" l, .0 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 440 pages

Walden's Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century ScienceBy Robert M. Thorson

Review "Walden's Shore" has no predecessor in the field of Thoreau studies. It is a welcome addition and a needed reassessment of an iconic figure.--Jeffrey S. Cramer, editor of "The Portable Thoreau"The work of an extraordinary mind. Thorson seeks to ground what is arguably the greatest piece of non-fiction produced in America, and one of the world's classics, not in the field of language where it has long been situated but rather in the material universe with which Thoreau extensively interacted and on which he long meditated. He stunningly succeeds in this effort.--Wayne Franklin, University of ConnecticutWalden s Shore" is a serious, substantial, and impressively erudite entry into the field--a model for how interdisciplinary approaches can bring original and revelatory perspectives to bear on even the most well-worn texts Thorson s careful reconstruction of Thoreau s likely knowledge of landscape formation and glacial theory is especially impressive, and constitutes a comprehensive account of Thoreau s relation to what was apparently a major scientific controversy of the mid-19th century.--James Williams"PopMatters" (04/22/2014)"Thorson says that literary types haven t had the scientific chops to recognize, among other things, Thoreau s genius for river channel hydraulics and how close he came to discovering glacial theory (then unformed, now proved) to explain his terrain of erratic boulders and kettle ponds. Thorson says that Thoreau changed from science light to science heavy around 1851, and his writing shed much of the ecstatic divine metaphors for a style closer to field notes.--Katherine Whittemore"Boston Globe" (05/25/2014)"Most people know Thoreau as an environmental essayist, a 19th-century naturalist, and a commentator and an essayist on social and political matters. Through a detailed reading of Thoreau s Journal" and Walden," Thorson shows that Thoreau was a competent scientist with expertise in limnology, geology, hydrology, and ecology. He also had a fundamental understanding of the effects of glaciers on landscapes.--L. T. Spencer"Choice" (07/01/2014)"

About the Author Robert M. Thorson is Professor of Geology at the University of Connecticut.

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Most helpful customer reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Hard Rowing By toronto I really wanted to like this book, and I should say up front that it tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the geology of Walden Pond and environs, plus, plus, plus. It is very hard to review, there are many good things in it, all kinds of research conducted over many years. It gets five stars for detail. But it is a real slog to get through. Eventually I gave up, and started skipping and dipping. The prose is very dense and self-indulgent, and an editor should have come in and made the author shorten and simplify the text. It would have been much much better much shorter and written for the general reader -- maybe the author could be persuaded to do a big picture book with text (I'd buy it!). There is a kind of geo-monomania (monomanias are not unheard of in Thoreau studies) going on, which will make the book great for research and libraries, but not for a light read.The author, for some mysterious unfathomable reason (pond joke), stops his detailed assessment in 1854, when Thoreau still had lots of scientific life in him. There is hardly any natural history or ecology here (except geo-limnology). The best thing in it (for this reader) was the extensive history of the arrival of the ice-age hypothesis in America.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Totally Fresh Comprehension of Walden By John S. Russell Gifted geologists Robert Thorson offers a brilliant analysis of "the place of the book" and the "book of then place." In prose worthy of his subject, he deepens our understanding of Thoreau's evolution from transcendentalist to a passionate scientific observer who was attuned to the changing debates of his era. But a paradox: Thoreau was ahead of most in understanding and accepting Darwin but postponed his embrace of glacial theory until he had finally finished Walden. Easily one of the ten best and most important books written about Walden and Thoreau.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Great reference book for a Walden fanatic By Jo Burton Nice read and lots of background info for Walden, but some parts are a little slow, Still a great book that explains a lot about the geographic and geological influence on Thoreau.

See all 4 customer reviews... Walden's Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century ScienceBy Robert M. Thorson