Nature

Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the cosmic.

The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". Natura was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. The con Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the cosmic.

The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". Natura was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries.

Within the various uses of the word today, "nature" often refers to geology and wildlife. Nature may refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects – the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wilderness–wild animals, rocks, forest, beaches, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. For example, manufactured objects and human interaction generally are not considered part of nature, unless qualified as, for example, "human nature" or "the whole of nature". This more traditional concept of natural things which can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the artificial being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human consciousness or a human mind. Depending on the particular context, the term "natural" might also be distinguished from the unnatural, the supernatural, or synthetic.

Nature writing is generally defined as nonfiction prose writing about the natural environment. Nature writing often draws heavily on scientific information and facts about the natural world; at the same time, it is frequently written in the first person and incorporates personal observations of and philosophical reflections upon nature. ...more

New Releases Tagged "Nature"

The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss

The Enigmatic Echidna: Secrets of the World's Most Curious Creature

This Land Is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History

The Dark Frontier: Unlocking the Secrets of the Deep Sea

Naming Nature: A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities for Word Lovers

Most Read This Week

A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness

Lists

Technological Slavery by Theodore John Kaczynski

Anti-Tech Revolution by Theodore John Kaczynski

Industrial Society and Its Future by Theodore John Kaczynski

The Human Animal

145 books — 101 voters

All Fictional Wolf Books (NOT WEREWOLVES)

213 books — 257 voters

Shores, Coasts, Deltas, Estuaries, Bays, Open Ocean, and Deep Sea

275 books — 98 voters

The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins

On Evolution - Love It Or Hate It

202 books — 106 voters

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

Books for Bird Lovers

541 books — 219 voters

Nature Calls Outside My Window, A Collection of Poems and Sto... by Suzanne Cottrell

Walden or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

Some Great Books on Nature

261 books — 224 voters

Nature Books

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

More nature books...

Related Genres

Nonfiction
Environment
Outdoors
Plants
Ornithology

Related News

Celebrate Spring with These Nature Nonfiction Reads

Springtime is in full swing—here in the northern hemisphere, anyway—and it’s quite glorious. The flowers are blooming, the temperatures are...

Quotes Tagged “Nature”

“ Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. ...more ”
― Robert Frost

2131 likes

“ The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all tro ...more ”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

2364 likes

More quotes...