Category Archives: Natural History

Essays on nature, the environment, science, the history of science, and conservation.

The Christian Environmentalist

Posted on September 13, 2022 by theamericanplutarch

The scientific/modern viewpoint about climate change is that humans can rationally decide to save the environment by implementlng bureaucratic scientific policies based on government programs. But if humans are at base animals they will continue in a survival of fittest, … Continue reading →

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The Force of Life

Posted on June 17, 2022 by theamericanplutarch

“Every creature is thus the object of the Father’s tenderness, who gives it its place in the world. Even the fleeting life of the least of beings is the object of his love, and in its few seconds of existence, … Continue reading →

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Grunter’s Plea: The Ancient Philosophy of Vegetarianism

Posted on August 27, 2018 by theamericanplutarch

One of the more fascinating tales of Homer in the Odyssey is that of the bewitching of Odysseus’s men by the witch Circe. Odysseus and his men have arrived at an unknown wooded island. Odysseus sends a detachment of men … Continue reading →

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The Mysterious Mr. Lee

Posted on April 20, 2017 by theamericanplutarch

Almost 200 years ago, in 1819, a scientist from England, Thomas Nuttall, journeyed up the Arkansas to near this spot, the Three Forks, the confluence of the Arkansas with the Verdigris and Grand rivers. Nuttall was exploring what had been … Continue reading →

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Superstition and Science

Posted on November 14, 2016 by theamericanplutarch

In July, 1819, up the Arkansas River several score miles from here, a remarkable conversation took place that could have only happened in the Old West of cowboys and Indians. The conversation involved an Indian, but not a cowboy, rather … Continue reading →

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Of Snakes

Posted on October 15, 2016 by theamericanplutarch

Ever since the serpent beguiled Eve, and God condemned the serpent to crawl on its belly in the dirt, serpents, or snakes, have seemed to most of us as disgusting, horrible creatures, little better than spiders and scorpions. That they … Continue reading →

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Jean Louis Berlandier

Posted on March 25, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

I am teaching this semester a course on the History of Science, and am using two of my books: Science in the Ancient World, and Frontier Naturalist: Jean Louis Berlandier and the Exploration of Northern Mexico and Texas. The latter … Continue reading →

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