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"

All That's Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir

Fierce Country: The Untold Story of Three Women Who Ignited America's Love for the Wild

The Traveler: One Man's Quest for Humanity from the South Seas to Revolutionary Paris

Fires in the Night: The Earth Liberation Front, the FBI, and a Secret History of Eco-Sabotage

Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations

Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex

In Defense of Sunlight: The Surprising Science of Sun Exposure

The Beasts of the East: The Fall and Rise of America's Eastern Wilderness

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

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

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Lists

The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins

On Evolution - Love It Or Hate It

202 books — 111 voters

The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins

Curious Minds

186 books — 157 voters

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

Monsters & Beasts

276 books — 71 voters

In the Company of Crocodiles by Maggie Brown

A Lesbian Wilderness

90 books — 70 voters

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

Books for Bird Lovers

544 books — 222 voters

Particles of Light by David Emerson Trim

Learning Their Language by Marta Williams

The Man Who Listens to Horses by Monty Roberts

Animal Communication

111 books — 85 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

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Related Genres

Nonfiction
Environment
Outdoors
Plants
Ornithology

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Quotes Tagged “Nature”

“ You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home ag ...more ”
― Mary Oliver

5593 likes

“ Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. ”
― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

1803 likes

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