Mother Nature's Heroes

If you were to take a poll among today's children, as to what they want to be when they grow up, one thing would be certain -- few, if any, would answer -- a naturalist. Additionally, if you were to take a poll among today's children, as to what a naturalist is -- few, if any, would know the answer to the question. Moreover, if you were to ask a child (or parent) today to name some great naturalists -- few, if any, could name some either.

It's not just kids who are clueless about naturalists of the past and present. Maybe, a few Americans might remember the more well-known names of John James Audubon, or John Muir.

However, the vast majority are not going to remember some of the great naturalists of the last century -- who gave us much of the foundations of what's known today as "earth sciences." A few of the more notable of them are:

• Louis Agassiz
• John J. Audubon
• John Burroughs
• James Dwight Dana
• Sir J. William Dawson
• Asa Gray
• John Macoun
• John Muir
• President Theodore Roosevelt
• Henry David Thoreau
• Alexander Wilson

Technically, the definition of a naturalist is:

Someone who is a student or expert of natural history as a field biologist (generally, they are examples of a botanists, conservationists, environmentalists, geologists, even activists and artists, or zoologists).

Today, another way of talking about naturalist and their sciences, is to refer to what is taught as "earth sciences."

Here again, it takes a poetic and artistic soul to give the world it's first great work on the birds of North America. Even though he's been called the "Father of American Ornithology," he was neither American born, nor as well-known as others who came after him.

Wilson (known as Sandy to his family and friends) was born in the Seedhills of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 1776. His mother intended that he should enter the ministry, but her early death interfered with that plan for his future. His father was poor and had a large family to support, so Alexander obtained only a moderate education.

While very young he was employed as a cattle-herder, and at the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to the family occupation -- weaving. His great ambition though was to be a poet, and for the next few years he wrote verse in his spare time, but without much success.

In fact, his poetry became a source of embarrassment, as some verses, written in his twenty-eighth year, landed him in prison as a result of a libel charge. Upon his release, he decided to emigrate to the United States. He also was encountering his women's woes, and a failed love affair contributed to his flight from Scotland.

Once in the U.S. after bouncing around at various trades, he taught school in several villages around Philadelphia, and as a hobby, continued to write poetry. In 1802, at Gray's Ferry, he met the then met William Bartram, and they became close friends. Inspired by his friend, Wilson turned his attention to collecting birds of Eastern North America.

Back then, it was necessary to draw the specimens he found, so he learned to draw and to make etchings. In 1805, he was determined to publish his drawings and observations. But, before he could do so he had to find two hundred and fifty subscribers who would buy copies of his work at the hefty price of one hundred and twenty dollars a set.

In search of deep pocketed nature lovers, he traveled as far west as the Mississippi River and as far south as New Orleans. He managed to sell the required number of subscribers and attracted the attention of many well known men of that time, including President Thomas Jefferson.

Alexander Wilson was a pioneer in his line of work. Unfortunately, he had to do much of the traveling under hardship, on horse or on foot. Great for finding new species of birds, but a hard life on the body of a man.

Much of the etching and coloring of his bird designs took tremendous amount of time and effort. He was given to over-working himself and not paying attention to his own health. He died in 1813, at only thirty-seven years of age.

Louis Agassiz, born in Switzerland in 1807, had a truly remarkable career. His father was a poor clergyman who was determined that his son should be a businessman or a physician. But Louis was born a naturalist.

Until he was ten years old, he studied with his parents, and for recreation he roamed the valleys and mountains around his home, giving earliest attention to the rocks and plants and to animal and bird life.

Then, at ten years, he entered the University of Bienne by age twelve, he had completed a remarkable collection of plants and animals. Two years later, he became a student at the College of Lausanne. It was very difficult for him to obtain the books he wanted to read, so he borrowed precious volumes and copied them by hand.

This one naturalist came for a visit and made America his home. With him he brought the learning and culture of the old World to inspire the thought and aims of the New. He was known and respected world-wide, was a popular professor at Harvard. He created the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge. Many of the leading scientists and naturalists that came after him were all his students.

At one time Asa Gray was the foremost American botanist for over one hundred years. His textbook was used in schools across the country.

Asa Gray was born in Sauquoit, New York in 1810. He was extremely bright and originally started out to study medicine, but soon found that his true interest was botany. A chance meeting with Dr. John Torry, the best known American botanist of that time period, led to a life-long friendship and mentorship.

For many years he taught school in the winter and worked in the field collecting and writing during the warmer months. Then, he co-authored a book called the Flora of North America and soon found himself on a different path. At Harvard, he wrote Gray's Manual of Botany, setting the standard for a field of science that before had been quite in disarray. We owe him a lot.

Note: No, he did not write Gray's Anatomy, which was written by Henry Gray.

In his time, he was the leading geologist of the world. Even today, his discoveries and writings are still the authoritative voice in geology. He was even knighted in 1884. Sir J. William Dawson was considered a pioneer in paleobotany

Interestingly, he had a theological view point, and steadfastly refused to admit the popular-in- his-time theories on descent or evolution of man from ape. He believed that the human species only made its appearance on this earth within quite recent times.

He published many books on a wide variety of subjects, and was deeply concerned about issues in education reform. He did as much for education, as he did for the field of geology.

While it's important to know about some of those 19th century naturalists and to understand the difficulties they met and conquered, it's equally, perhaps more important -- that we have as many brilliant students of the natural world working harder than ever in the earth sciences of today.

If you think about it, what every one of those "naturalists" had in common was that they wrote, illustrated, and lectured -- all teaching and passing on what they had learned. Since that time, the new naturalists have emerged -- often in the form of authors and activists.

Let's take a look a few of the more surprising ones you may not have thought of as naturalists:

Controversial and true to her course, Julia "Butterfly" Hill, is a well-known American activist environmentalist.

Famous for living in a six-hundred-year-old California Redwood tree, dubbed "Luna" for almost two years (738 days) -- she was successful from keeping the Pacific Lumber Company from cutting it down.

In 2002, she was awarded the "Courage of Conscience Award" for her efforts. She's the author of the book The Legacy of Luna and co-author of One Makes the Difference.

In her time, she was a familiar voice to Americans. Rachel Carson, was a writer, scientist, and ecologist, activist, and Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She grew up simply in the rural river town of Springdale, Pennsylvania.

This wonderful scientist began her career in government service, yet by the time she wrote "Undersea" (1937, for the Atlantic Monthly), and then in a book, Under the Sea-Wind (1941) -- she had moved way beyond simply being an expert in her field of interest.

By 1952 she published her prize-winning study of the ocean, The Sea Around Us, which was followed by The Edge of the Sea in 1955. These books constituted a biography of the ocean, often used as cited textbooks in schools and made Carson famous as a naturalist and science writer for the public.

Surprisingly, most children have grown up learning to read with the guidance of a most uncommon naturalist -- Theodor Seuss Geisel. His “I Speak for the Trees” The Lorax -- was way ahead of his time in the teachings of a true naturalist.

This one children's book (and later cartoon) swirled in controversy. It was even a banned book in one California community, because it was thought unfair to the logging industry. The logging industry took such great exception to the book that they even went as far as to publish a book called the "The Truax."

Even one line in the original book (and DVD) was removed from subsequent editions, as it wasn't taken lightly that "I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie," after a clean-up of that lake was completed and objections led to still more controversy.