Nature Matrix is a gathering of some of Robert Michael Pyle's most
significant, original, and timely expressions of a life immersed in the
natural world, in all its splendor, power, and peril
Nature Matrix: New and Selected Essays contains sixteen pieces that
encompass the philosophy, ethic, and aesthetic of Robert Michael Pyle.
The essays range from Pyle's experience as a young national park ranger
in the Sierra Nevada to the streets of Manhattan; from the suburban
jungle to the tangles of the written word; and from the phenomenon of
Bigfoot to that of the Big Year--a personal exercise in extreme birding
and butterflying. They include deep profiles of John Jacob Astor I and
Vladimir Nabokov, as well as excursions into wild places with teachers,
children, and writers.
The nature of real wilderness in modern times comes under Pyle's lens,
as does reconsideration of his trademark concept, "the extinction of
experience"--maybe the greatest threat of alienation from the living
world that we face today.
Nature Matrix shows a way back toward possible integration with the
world, as it plumbs the range and depth of experience in one lucky life
lived in close connection to the physical earth and its denizens. This
collection brings together the thoughts and hopes of one of our most
widely read and respected natural philosophers as he seeks to summarize
a life devoted to conservation.
