Infinite Nature

As described

Not a great book. Very bias. He never shows both sides of a scenario. The author is very one sided.

Had to buy this for my master's program, but was a really interesting read. Anyone interested in environmental phylosophy, I would recommend this. Actually interesting for a school book.

I think this book is ok. I had to buy it for class and read it all. It was an easy read with some good ideas, but not my favorite.

What does the mention of "nature" bring to mind? Nurturing and providing, or competitive and indifferent? Known and measured, or mysterious and chaotic? Pure and clean, or pestilential? In his book, Infinite Nature, Dr. R. Bruce Hull challenges us to choose.Dr. Hull begins by introducing the concept of environmental fundamentalism. In his view, assuming a fundamentalist stance risks a narrowed perception, restricting the safe space where common interests can coexist. In taking a fundamentalist view, we may miss the larger texture of existence, or worse, dismiss those issues we fear and therefore fail to deal with them effectively. Dispassionate and fearless investigation could confirm and strengthen our views; it could enlarge them, or cause them to change.However, if one embraces the concept of environmental pluralism, the notion arises that all participants in the science, spirit, politics and industry of "nature" can gather together cooperatively at the world's table. The planet being what it is - not a banquet of limitless supply - we must investigate all fact and all opinion, or risk missing essential information that could forestall a more difficult future for ourselves and our offspring.Dr. Hull suggests "many natures and many lessons to learn from them," and he has titled his chapters, to cite a few: "Evolving Nature," "Rightful Nature," "Aesthetic Nature," "Moral Nature." These chapters contain various reflections about the price of a life, environmental racism, recreation, forestry, history, faith, health, and work.As a series of chapters containing individual essays, the book lends itself well to small-bite reading. Open it anywhere; each chapter grabs the reader's interest immediately. It's a book that's easy to keep coming back to. It inspires one to think, to learn something new and to be driven to learn more.Infinite Nature is not a macabre reflection on a future-less Malthusian world, but it does encourage us to ask why humanity often fails to respond in the face of obvious environmental catastrophe: we may distrust the message or the messenger; we may be so pessimistic as to believe that nothing can be done; our political or religious beliefs may indicate we need do nothing; we just might be too tired to act. Any such reasons might be legitimate, but Dr. Hull asks us to confront these controlling factors with an open mind and heart in order to answer the question: "What kind of world do I want to live in?"While Dr. Hull unabashedly reveals his deep love of the natural world, there is a refreshing lack of preaching and moralizing within the book's covers. Infinite Nature insists that we make our own investigations and draw our own conclusions. Dr. Hull not only provides us with an entertaining and informative read, but also provokes us to ponder, and delight in, our place in the world.(Fall 2006 issue of Virginia Forests, publication of The Virginia Forestry Association)