Walden’s Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century Science

by Robert M. Thorson

"Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward," Thoreau invites his readers in Walden , "till we come to a hard bottom and rocks in place, which we can call reality ." Walden's Shore explores Thoreau's understanding of that hard reality, not as metaphor but as physical science. Robert M. Thorson is interested in 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. At Walden 's climax, Thoreau asks us to imagine a "living earth" upon which all animal and plant life is parasitic. This book examines Thoreau's understanding of the geodynamics of that living earth, and how his understanding informed the writing of Walden . The story unfolds against the ferment of natural science in the nineteenth century, as Natural Theology gave way to modern secular science. That era saw one of the great blunders in the history of American science--the rejection of glacial theory. Thorson demonstrates just how close Thoreau came to discovering a "theory of everything" that could have explained most of the landscape he saw from the doorway of his cabin at Walden. At pivotal moments in his career, Thoreau encountered the work of the geologist Charles Lyell and that of his protégé Charles Darwin. Thorson concludes that the inevitable path of Thoreau's thought was descendental, not transcendental, as he worked his way downward through the complexity of life to its inorganic origin, the living rock.

Genres: Nature, Geology, Philosophy

440 pages, Hardcover

First published January 6, 2014

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. First, it is safe to say that during part of his life - his Walden years - Henry David Thoreau attended to transcendental intuitions. During his later years he was into nature studies, as this author calls him " a self-taught American field scientist." (p. 89) It reminds me of the right brain (artistic) side of our inclinations vs. the left brain (scientific) side. Wasn't Henry trying to do both, even at different times of his life?

My feeling is that this author wants us to believe that Thoreau was a scientist all the time, and that the creation of his masterpiece Walden was intended to be a scientific document. Really? I think that this author had a preconceived idea that Thoreau was a scientist trying to be a transcendentalist. So he uses research and quotations to support this. He avoids research and quotations which would say otherwise. But lots of authors do this, don't they?

The author goes to great lengths to provide scientific explanations for Thoreau's intuitive observations, thus minimizing inspiration and reflection. Also, he seems to want to credit Thoreau with more scientific knowledge than he probably had, especially in geology. (The author is a geologist.) It seems the author likes to pick out obscure journal entries as if to say, "see right here it proves Thoreau was a scientist and not a philosopher or a transcendentalist."

I believe Henry David Thoreau liked to keep science in a subordinate place in his thoughts. His formal and published writings reveal as much. He saw facts and concrete evidence of phenomena only as footnotes to a larger picture of meaning. This is transcendentalism, and this is how he saw himself, not as a scientist but rather as a thinker.

In spite of my criticisms I learned quite a bit from this book; it's very well written. That's saying something because I am not scientifically minded. But because of this book I am very much looking forward to my next reading of Walden and my next trip to Walden Pond.

[Alan Rohwer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a worthy addition to my growing Walden/Thoreau library. I particularly liked it because the author, a professor of geology, brings a different perspective both to Walden Pond and to the works of Henry Thoreau. I am a long-time science and nature hobbyist, including geology, and was before I became a student of Henry. I am also blessed to live near Walden Pond and get to visit it frequently and under different conditions. The book and its discussion of the pond and its formation has changed the way I look at Walden Pond, really a flow-through kettlehole lake, as you will learn from the book. The author shows great scholarship and introduces many aspects of the bedrock and glacial geology of Walden. The Pond is pretty unique geologically as well as being a literary shrine. The glacial formation of the surrounding terrain is presented along with a whole chapter on the hydrology of the lake system. A history of the nineteenth century development of the science of geology is given, along with the context of what Thoreau would have known or thought based on the then current science. Thorson spends a good deal of time presenting an understanding of Thoreau's transition from being a “poet naturalist” to being a “scientist naturalist”. He describes his interpretation of Henry’s thinking over time while showing the evolution of his thought and writing through the various drafts of "Walden", the book. Also described and researched by the author are the roles of Thoreau’s field notes, journal entries and their eventual inclusion into the "Walden" text. This process was new to me and of interest. Thorson describes many natural phenomena occurring at The Pond and gives scientific interpretations of these phenomena. I will try to be more observant for some of these in my future Pond visits. I really enjoyed the scientist’s approach to discussing the Pond and Henry. I became less engaged in the sections where Thorson delved deeper into his notions of Henry’s thought processes. Thorson can be forgiven for wanting to better understand and interpret what and how Henry was thinking. This is a desire all who truly appreciate Henry’s works share. For me, I enjoyed the scientific side and recommend it to anyone who wants to understand this aspect of Walden’s special shores.

[Muhsin Dogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This remarkable book, in which Henry David Thoreau presents himself as a scientist during his Walden experiments, effectively emphasizes the influence of Charles Darwin on Thoreau’s intellectual journey through clear and consistent writing. I think that if you are interested in Thoreau, this is a must-read.

[Thor]

Having written this book, I can't review it. However there are plenty of reviews from Kirkus, Choice, Nature, The Boston Globe, PopMatters, and various scholarly journals. For more information, check out the book's website at

http://robertthorson.uconn.edu/writin...