Writing Sample
The Relationship of Science and Art in American Nature Writing and Implications for Environmental Issue Resolution
Anne Marie Smith, Author
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ABSTRACT

This research paper outlines the historical influences on nature writing as an argument to define nature writing as a literary genre successfully incorporating both science and art. Historical references from western history are used to illustrate the conflict between these two disciplines before the establishment of nature writing as a genre. Important milestones are identified including the work of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, René Descartes, John Ray, Alexander Pope, Carl Linnaeus, John Keats, Gilbert White and Charles Darwin.

Within American history a complimentary relationship was established between science and art, resulting in the nature writing genre today. The establishment of this relationship had many stages including the "nature fakers" controversy in the early twentieth century, the work of political activists in the middle twentieth century, and the current mass of environmental issues being addressed. The influence of numerous American nature writers is acknowledged including the works of Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, William J. Long, John Muir, E.O. Wilson, Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, David Rains Wallace, Peter Matthiessen and Edward Hoagland.

In an attempt to gain additional insight into the nature writing genre, a list was generated of authors and which nature writing anthologies included them. The intent was to investigate the work of the most prevalent authors to see if they incorporated both science and art. Although the list was unexpectedly long, analysis of the work of the five most prevalent authors supported the definition of nature writing as incorporating both science and art.

The value of the complimentary relationship between science and art is illustrated through the comparison of two authors with opposing perspectives concerning numerous difficult environmental issues. Analysis of two recent books illustrated a basic conflict between science and art, or reason and emotion. The two books analyzed are Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit by Vice President Al Gore and Environmental Overkill: Whatever Happened to Common Sense? by Dixy Lee Ray. It is suggested that the nature writing genre could be used as an example for environmental issue resolution because of the complimentary relationship between science and art.

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