Naturalis Historia: Volume II

Ye Animal Gods of Olde

Animals and nature have greatly influenced our myths and beliefs. From the beautiful cave paintings of our early ancestors to the myths of Greece, animals were always present. The early hominids glorified lions, bears, and deer by painting them on cave walls, some dating to 30,000 years ago. In ancient Eygpt, cats were worshipped as gods, guardians of the afterlife. Other animals, such as the stork, were symbols for their gods and goddesses. Some of their heiroglyphics were depictions of animals. In ancient Greece, their religion was filled with natural references. Nymphs were young maidens who not only lived in forests, but they were part of the forest. Nymphs and dryads were anthropomorphic symbols of nature. If someone killed a tree, then the nymph that lived in it would die as well. A current theme in greek and roman myths was people being transformed into animals. The reason varied, whether it was punishment, a curse, or their own will, but to the ancient world, animals represented the instinctive and feral side of people. In medieval Europe, there were popular stories of elves, fairies, unicorns, and dwarves. These creatures also represented the more natural side of humans. Fairies were connected with nature; to destroy nature would be to kill fairies. One type of religion I feel is common to this, is that of animism. Animism is the belief that everything has an individual spirit, like trees, rivers, rocks, animals, they all have spirits. One animistic religion, Shinto has small nature spirits called kodamas. These kodamas live in trees, but are also part of the tree. They are connected to the tree’s life. When forests were polluted or cut down, shintoists believed that the kodamas would die. All these beliefs, kodamas, fairies, sprites, or nymphs, had the similar belief that these creatures were part of nature. They were the “humans” that still believed in nature and could communicate with animals. Whether you believe fairies are real or not, the fact is, we are all connected to the natural world whether we realize or not.

Naturalis Historia: Volume I

A Natural History

Humans have been intriqued and interested in natural history all throughout time. One of the first important and thorough writings about natural history came from Ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder wrote “Naturalis Historia”, or A Natural History, in 77 AD. It was the first encyclopedia and consisted of 37 volumes. He wanted to “set forth in detail all the contents of the entire world.” With much information on geology, geography, meteorology, botany, zoology, astronomy, human physiology, and medicine, he also wrote about such mythical beasts as the basilisk as being real. Nevertheless, his work was a milestone in teaching the public about the natural world. If interested, you can find more about Pliny’s work and the Naturalis Historia text here (in Latin and English!).

Ever since 5-10 million years ago, when the first hominids began to dominate, humans have lived among animals and nature. Plants, herbs, roots, nuts, and berries were collected for food, and trees were used as shelter, much like how our primate relatives live. Early humans relied on their larger brains to think up new ideas and strategies for obtaining food. Eventually, domestication arrived. Humans learned ways of living with wolves that benefited each other so much that a new species evolved, the domestic dog. Cattle and livestock benefited humans in that it gave them a source of food without the need to travel and hunt. The livestock, therefore, were content since they were being continuously fed and cared for. A balance between humans and nature was thus established. Neither had more control or less control over the other.

Once the middle ages arrived, we tried to disassociate ourselves from nature. We were humans, afterall, not animals. Innovations in science arose during the Renaissance, which gave us new insights on astronomy, mechanics, physiology, etc. But nothing like the early writings of Aristotle or Pliny about the natural world. The industrial revolution came with a bang. All of a sudden we humans controlled the world. Factories, machines, technology; all to do everything for us. Humans were separated from nature. We no longer felt like we were part of mother earth. We forgot.

A truly remarkable thing happened in the 19th century. A naturalist named Charles Darwin wrote a book called The Descent of Man in 1871. He proposed, well actually, had evidence for the fact that all living creatures were descedants of a common ancestor. Maybe we weren’t so far from nature as we thought. In the years that followed, new research and knowledge in zoology led scientists to discover that animals aren’t so different from us. They think, have emotions, raise families. Zoologists began classifying species based common characteristics and ancestry. Humans also are classified, as part of the hominid family along with chimpanzees (our closest relative), bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. Genetics has played a large role in finding so many similarities between humans and chimps that our DNA is 98% the same. Perhaps we are still that wild primate that lives in the forest.

Naturalis Historia: Intro

My thoughts and essays on the natural world.

Posts under this category: my various writings and essays on the natural world relating to zoology, anthropology, genetics, or just nature in general.

The title “Naturalis Historia” comes from Pliny the Elder’s extensive encyclopedia of the natural world written in 77 A.D.

Book List

For some science/zoology/natural history reading:

Zoological Reading

• A Primate’s Memoir — by Robert M. Sapolsky
• Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind — by David Quammen
• The Song of the Dodo — by David Quammen
• Gorillas in the Mist — by Dian Fossey
• In the Shadow of Man — by Jane Goodall
• Inside the Animal Mind: A Groundbreaking Exploration of Animal Intelligence — by George Page
• When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals — by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy
• Nim: a Chimpanzee Who Learned Sign Language — by Herbert S. Terrace
• The Evolution of Culture in Animals — by John T. Bonner
• Animal Liberation — by Peter Singer
• The Diversity of Life — by Edward O. Wilson
• Becoming a Tiger: How Baby Animals Learn to Live in the Wild — by Susan McCarthy
• Naturalis Historia (A Natural History) — by Pliny the Elder

Evolution/Genetics

• The Origin of Species — by Charles Darwin
• The Descent of Man — by Charles Darwin
• The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals — by Charles Darwin
• Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters — by Matt Ridley
• The Beak of the Finch — by Jonathan Weiner
• The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal — by Jared Diamond
• The Selfish Gene — by Richard Dawkins
• Evolution’s Workshop: God and Science on the Galápagos Islands — by Edward J. Larson

(More related books @ Amazon.com)

Greetings.

Welcome to Patronus Naturae: my thoughts and essays on the natural world.

Here lies my various writings on the natural world relating to zoology, anthropology, evolution, genetics, or just nature in general.

Related Links/Resources

• PETA
• ASPCA
• IUCN
• EDGE
• ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge)
• Red List
• Bio Gems
• Sierra Club
• NRDC
• Defenders of Wildlife
• The Darwin Page
• About Darwin.com
• Jane Goodall Institute
• Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
• Gorilla Foundation
• Stop Global Warming
• Smithsonian Institute
• National Zoo
• Conservation Central
• World Wildlife Fund
• Leonardo Dicaprio.org (his conservation site)
• The Rainforest Site
• Animal Rescue Site
• Future Forests
• Discovery.com
• National Geographic
• Taxonomic Information System
• Amphibians & Reptiles of NC
• Animal Diversity Web
• Collective Terms for Animals
• Wikispecies

Article Archive

Interesting articles I find on the web:
(for more search under ‘articles‘ tag)

» Global Warming May Swamp Hawaiian Wildlife, National Geographic (June 5, 2006)
» Grizzly-Polar Bear Hybrid, National Geographic (May 16, 2006)
» Global Warming Could Cause Mass Extinctions, National Geographic (April 12, 2006)
» Giant Turkey-Like Dinosaur Found, National Geographic (April 7, 2006)
» Penguins Breeding Later Due to Warming, National Geographic (April 4, 2006)
» Baby Walruses Stranded by Melting Artic Ice, National Geographic (March 27, 2006)
» Seal Hunt in Canada Opens on Thin Ice, National Geographic (March 24, 2006)
» Lost World of New Species Found, National Geographic (February 2006)
» Giant Asian Ape and Humans Coexisted, National Geographic (December 8, 2005)
» New Species of Mammal in Borneo, World Wildlife Fun (December 6, 2005)
» Elephants React to their Dead, National Geographic (October 31, 2005)
» Tool-Use Found in Gorillas, National Geographic (September 30, 2005)
» Monkey Recognition in Mirrors, National Geographic (July 19, 2005)
» Baby Whales & Moms Stay Awake, National Geographic (June 29, 2005)
» Tool-Use in Dolphins, National Geographic (June 7, 2005)
» New Species of Monkey Discovered, National Geographic (May 19, 2005)
» Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Rediscovered, National Geographic (April 28, 2005)
» Toad Tunnels Built To Help Amphibians Cross Roads, National Geographic (April 15, 2005)
» Elephants Can Mimic Noises, National Geographic (March 23, 2005)
» Wild Horse Slaughter Legalization, National Geographic (March 10, 2005)
» Plant/Insect Wars, National Geographic (March 7, 2005)
» Hobbit Brains were Small, but Smart, National Geographic (March 3, 2005)
» Animal-Human hybrids, National Geographic (Jan. 25, 2005)
» Asian Tsunamis and Animals, National Geographic (Jan. 4, 2005)

Nature/Animal Quotes

“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” — Aristotle

“Nature does nothing uselessly.” — Aristotle

“All men by nature desire knowledge.” — Aristotle

“The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.” — Zeno

“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.” — E. B. White

“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.” — Frank Lloyd Wright

“I realized that If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes.”
– Charles Lindbergh

“I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.” — Joseph Addison

“Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.”
– George Eliot

“If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.” — Chief Seattle of the Suwamish Tribe, letter to President Franklin Pierce

“To insult someone we call him “bestial.” For deliberate cruelty and nature, “human” might be the greater insult.” — Isaac Asimov

“Don’t think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm.” — Malayan proverb

“The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.” — Jane Goodall

“The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.” — Mark Twain

“Protect these harmless gentle cousins…” — Sir Arthur C. Clarke, on Gorillas

“Mountain gorillas are almost the closest relatives we have, and they will die if we don’t help them.” — Douglas Adams

“Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal.” — Charles Darwin

“The main conclusion arrived at in this work, namely, that man is descended from some lowly organized form, will, I regret to think, be highly distasteful to many”. — Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man

“We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities… still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.” -– Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871)

“Though human ingenuity in various inventions uses different instruments for the same end, it will never discover an invention more beautiful, easier, or more economical than nature’s, because in her inventions nothing is wanting and nothing is superfluous.” — Leonardo da Vinci

“First I shall do some experiments before I proceed farther, because my intention is to cite experience first and then with reasoning show why such experience is bound to operate in such a way.  And this is the true rule by which those who speculate about the effects of nature must proceed.” — Leonardo da Vinci

Polar bears need help!

Hello! I have an urgent action alert from the NRDC about polar bears in the Arctic. Tell the Bush Administration to protect polar bears and their critical habitat. Ice is melting at a faster rate each spring, causing the bears to become separated from the mainland by melting ice and not being able to catch their prey, since they rely on ice holes to catch seals. Please send this message and thank you!

Evolutionary Studies

Some articles on evolutionary studies:

Early Man Couldn’t Stomach Milk.
Chimps Use Spears To Hunt Mammals.
Chimp “Stone Age” Finds Are Earliest Nonhuman Ape Tools.