Loren Eiseley: Collected Essays on Evolution, Na

Aneminentpaleontologistwiththesoulandskillofapoet，LorenEiseley(1907–1977)wasamongthetwentiethcentury’sgreatestinheritorsoftheliterarytraditionofHenryDavidThoreau，CharlesDarwin，andJohnMuir，andaprecursortosuchlaterwritersasStephenJayGould，RichardDawkins，andCarlSagan.Afterdecadesoffieldworkanddiscoveryasa“bone-hunter”andprofessor，Eiseleyturnedlateinlifetothepersonalessay，andbeginningwiththesurprisemillion-copysellerTheImmenseJourney(1957)heproducedanastonishingsuccessionofbooksthatwonacclaimbothasscienceandasart.Nowforthefirsttime，theLibraryofAmericapresentshislandmarkessaycollectionsinadefinitivetwo-volumeset.ThissecondvolumebeginswithTheInvisiblePyramid(1970)，abookofmeditationsontheoriginsandpossiblefuturesofhumankindsetagainstthebackdropoftheApollo11landings.AsWesterncivilizationattainsnewheightsofscientificawarenessandtechnologicalskill，isitalsoblindtoitsownlimits，doomedtodestroyitselflikethelostcivilizationsoftheancientsorother“spore-bearers”inourevolutionarypast?Eiseleymakesanurgent，environmentalistpleaintheseessays：wemustprotecttheplanetfromwhichweemergedagainstouruncheckedpowertooverpopulateandpolluteandconsumeit.TheessaysinTheNightCountry(1971)looknottothestarsbutbackwardandinward：tothehauntedspacesofEiseley’slonelyNebraskachildhoodandtothosemoments，oftendarkandunexpected，whenchanceobservationsdisturbourordinaryunderstandingsoftheuniverse.Thenaturalisthereseeksneither“salvationinfacts”norsolaceinwildplaces：encounteringanoldbone，oranestofwasps，herecognizeswhathecalls“theghostlinessofmyself，”hisownmortality，andtheparadoxesoftheevolutionofconsciousness.Shortlybeforehisdeath，Eiseleymadeplansforwhatwouldbehislastbook，publishedposthumouslyasTheStarThrower(1978).HerearelateessaysonthelifeandlegacyofHenryDavidThoreau，thewritertowhomheturnedmoreoftenthananyother;thoughtsonthe“twocultures”hesoughttobringtogetherthroughouthiscareer;andontherelationsbetweenhardscienceand“awebeforetheuniverse.”Ofparticularinterestaretwoearlystoriesdiscoveredamonghispapers，“TheDanceoftheFrogs”and“TheFifthPlanet.”AcompanionvolumegathersTheImmenseJourney(1957)，TheFirmamentofTime(1960)，TheUnexpectedUniverse(1969)，andaselectionofEiseley’suncollectedprose.