I think so! People always say that good teachers should inspire you to be curious and find out more for yourself, and that makes nature a pretty good teacher in my opinion.

 

Nell

 

 

Interesting thoughts.

Is it a good aphorism to use when trying to engage children and the public?

Ian 

On 02/06/2011 11:31, Dominic McDonald wrote:

where does a Darwinistic nightmare come into it?

If Nature is really our guide, then it's probably a Nature which is red in tooth and claw...

 

 

Dear All,

I'm reminded of John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, snubbing classes at grad school ("they will dull your mind..."), declaring that his classmates were "memorising the weak assumptions of lesser mortals!" Perhaps modern-day Romantics, more enlightened souls, are shouting the same at scientists?  :-)

I'm not in the most existential mood, but where does a Darwinistic nightmare come into it?

Cheers,
Kim

On 06/02/11 11:09, Booth Marilyn (RB) wrote:

Ben and Ian

 

Ben is right.  The Romantics were all about the awe-inspiring power of Nature (at least in their younger early days of writing before becoming more conventional as they aged.  Their philosophy was also tied in with a reaction against growing industrialism and an embracing of the ethos of the French Revolution etc. 

 

If I remember correctly, there was also a British Science Festival session a couple of years ago which looked at the role of Coleridge in the early days of the Festival - and there's always the book by Richard Holmes on the links between Romanticism and sciences (or natural philosophy as they might have termed it).

 

---

From: psci-com: on public engagement with science [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ben Johnson
Sent: 02 June 2011 11:00
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Subject: Re: [PSCI-COM] What do you think?

Hi Ian and all,

 

I am a little confused by your confusion.  The poem is a pretty straight forward enunciation of the Romanic manifesto as it was evolving at that time.  Essentially, the romantics were eager to embrace all possible forms of human experience, including the wild and non-rational (his flashing eyes, his floating hair).  It would be unrealistic to think that a poet like Wordsworth eschews books (Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife - elsewhere in the same poem).  Rather the poem is an exhortation to seek inspiration from Nature against the context of dry and well ordered knowledge.  It is worth bearing in mind that the poem first appeared in a collection called Lyrical Ballads in 1798.  That volume was edited by a young Bristol based Chemist from Cornwall called Humphry Davy, then considered a promising poet and interesting researcher.. 

 

Dont be confused by references to art or science as the terms were used in quite a different way back then.  Also Darwin's Origin is still some 60 years in the future, so that may be a red herring.

 

pip pip

 

b

 

Ben Johnson
Graphic Science

Part of The Training Group - Supporting public engagement in the research community

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From: psci-com: on public engagement with science [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ian B Dunne
Sent: 02 June 2011 10:36
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PSCI-COM] What do you think?

 

Hi

Apologies for cross posting but I want to see what the different forums make of this.

I recently came across the phrase " Let nature be your teacher" it comes from a poem by Wordsworth, he of daffodil fame and much else.

But I found my self contemplating its meaning while stuck in a traffic jam and I cannot make up my mind whether it is just plane Hippy and a tad dippy, inspirational and moving or a vision of a Darwinistic nightmare.

Your thoughts?

Ian

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