Horizon's Lens: My Time on the Turning World

by Elizabeth Dodd

In a lyrical memoir and meditation on the nature of time and place, Elizabeth Dodd explores a variety of landscapes, reading the records left by inhabitants and by time itself. In spring in the Yucatán peninsula, she marks the equinox among the ruins of the Maya. In summer in the Orkney Islands, she considers linguistic and historic connections with Icelandic sagas. In tallgrass country in the fall, she observes bison and black-footed ferrets returning to their ancestral landscape. In winter in the canyons of the Ancestral Puebloans, she notes the standstill positions of the sun and the moon.


 

Ranging across continents and millennia, Dodd examines how people have inscribed the concept of time into their physical environments, through rock art, standing stones, and the alignment of buildings on the landscape. She follows the etymological trail of various languages, blending research with travel narrative and aesthetic meditation. From musings on the origin of the sandhill cranes’ transcontinental journey to reflections on the dimming light of shortening days as the winter solstice approaches, from depictions of exploding stars in ancient petroglyphs to meditations on the Great North Road, whose purpose scientists have yet to discover, Dodd captures the interstices of the natural world.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely and on a number of different levels. Although it was written by an academic and published by an academic press, reading it was quite a different experience than what I've typically encountered in books issuing from this source. In fact, I would go so far as to conjecture that, if there were more books of this quality being published, academic presses would likely not be in their current difficult situation.
So what makes this book more enjoyable than most of the rest of academic books? I would say that it is the attitude, tone and intent. Unlike most academic books, which can often be turgid, self-important exercises, which flaunt rigor as an end in itself, this collection of essays delivers to the reader the articulate, and often poignant, musings of a curious and engaged scholar who clearly wants to connect with the reader on a deep level. Don't get me wrong. This is not a collection that has made itself shallow by seeking to be popular. It is challenging throughout and and is deep, multi-faceted and will require a great deal of attention, study and reflection to achieve understanding. However, I found the rewards well worth the investment.
It is notable also that the author is not afraid to personalize some issues and also to inject an occasional bit of arcane humor into the narrative. These characteristics are also rare for academic works, but they are done well and to good effect in this work.
Lastly, I would add my perspective as a scientist. The author is a humanist, but clearly has made the understanding and incorporating of a scientific perspective a priority in her work. More to the point, by bringing the perspective and sensibilities of a humanist to the scientific underpinnings of the topics she presents, she opened new and helpful dimensions for me, and for that I am grateful. We scientists tend to hew closely to the technical details of science and reading the perspective of a humanist helped to reacquaint me with the state of wonder that attracts curious individuals to explore the intersection between life and science.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful.