Most Read This Week In 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

Most Read This Week Tagged "Nature"

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

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

The Wild Robot Protects (The Wild Robot, #3)

Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life

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

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

How the Penguins Saved Veronica (Veronica McCreedy, #1)

A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon

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

Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman

Diddly Squat: A Year on the Farm (Diddly Squat, #1)

Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail

The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth

We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People

The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need

Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature

Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times

Tooth and Claw (A Longmire Mystery, #0.5)

The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise

Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon

Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night

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Quotes Tagged “Nature”

“ How I go to the wood Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore unsuitable. I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of praying, as you no doubt have yours. Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds, until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost unhearable sound of t ...more ”
― Mary Oliver, Swan: Poems and Prose Poems

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“ Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand. ...more ”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle

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