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.ThisfirstvolumebeginswithEiseley’sdebutcollection，whichdisplayshisfar-reachingknowledgeandboundlesscuriosityaboutthemysteriesofthenaturalworld.Herearevividaccountsofprehistoricecosystems，theoriginsofconsciousness，thesearchfor“livingfossils”atthebottomofthesea，andthecomplexitiesofourevolutionaryinheritance.HeretooareliteraryqualitiesandaspirationsthatledmanytohailEiseleyasa“modernThoreau”：hisquestfortheultimatemeaningsandcosmologicalsignificanceofnaturalphenomena，alongwithhisimmenseexpressivegifts.TheFirmamentofTime(1960)，alyricalandmeditativetourdeforce，looksbackatthemanywaysinwhichthescienceshavebeenshapedbythechangingculturesinwhichtheydeveloped.Examiningtheroleofmetaphorinscientificthought，anticipationsofscientificdiscoveriesintheworksofpoetsandnovelists，andthe“unconsciousconformity”ofscientifictheorytoprevailingorthodoxies，Eiseleyarguesprovocativelyfortheongoingrelevancetoscientificprogressofdreams，theimagination，andtheirrational.Inhiswide-rangingcollectionTheUnexpectedUniverse(1969)，Eiseleyturnstothethemeofthevoyageofdiscovery：accountsofthemythicalandhistoricjourneysofOdysseus，CaptainCook，andDarwinframehisownmoremodestwanderingsintheenvironsofPhiladelphia.Sometimeshetravelsnofartherthanthelocaldump：andyet，likeHomer’sheroorthesegreatexplorers，hecontinuallyfindsauniverse“notonlyqueererthanwesuppose，butqueererthanwecansuppose.”Asanaddedfeature，thisvolumepresentsaselectionofEiseley’suncollectedprose，includingearlyautobiographicalsketches，vividandhauntingentriesfromhisprivatenotebooks，andhis1957lecture“NeanderthalManandtheDawnofHumanPaleontology.”AcompanionvolumepresentsTheInvisiblePyramid(1970)，TheNightCountry(1971)，andtheessaysgatheredafterhisdeathinTheStarThrower(1978).