Encounters With Nature: Essays

Rating:
Summary: Last thoughts of a great thinker
Review: This book was a work in progress when Paul Shepard died. His wife and partner, Florence, worked to finalize it and bring it to publication. We all owe a debt of gratitude to her for that. Paul Shepard threw off ideas like sparks during his life and this last effort is just that; sparks of ideas which we can only regret will never see the full development of his other works. However, whether you are a fan (or foe) of Paul Shepard and his ideas, this book will not fail to challenge your thinking.

The book is a series of essays on a wide range of subjects, centered around Shepard's central thesis that human ecology was too centered on the 20th century, and not enough on the Pleistocene. I have all of Paul Shepard's books, but I often find myself returning to this one when I have a few moments to reflect. Try it, you will be rewarded.