I really enjoy going to a library and spending the day doing research – to me that is the most pleasurable part of writing the science book.
“I really enjoy going to a library and spending the day … Read More
You can be a scientist and believe in god: the two can go hand in hand.
“You can be a scientist and believe in god: the two … Read More
It’s hard not to be kind of pessimistic about human beings generally, because we do tend to mess things up. If you just look at the history of extinctions, we’ve killed off an awful lot of animals – and I don’t think we’re doing a very good job of looking after the planet.
“It’s hard not to be kind of pessimistic about human beings … Read More
Not writing the same kind of book over and over again is to me the real pleasure of what I do.
“Not writing the same kind of book over and over again … Read More
Being a pessimist is just such a gloomy way of looking at things, so I have to hope for the best – life wouldn’t be worth living if we didn’t have hope. And I also do think that human beings often do do wonderful, correct, brilliant things. So, on balance, I’d like to be optimistic about the future.
“Being a pessimist is just such a gloomy way of looking … Read More
Before, prior to. There is no difference between these two except length and a certain affectedness on the part of ‘prior to.’ To paraphrase Bernstein, if you would use ‘posterior to’ instead of ‘after,’ then by all means use ‘prior to’ instead of ‘before.
“Before, prior to. There is no difference between these two except … Read More
In the morning I awoke early and experienced that sinking sensation that overcomes you when you first open your eyes and realize that instead of a normal day ahead of you, with its scatterings of simple gratifications, you are going to have a day without even the tiniest of pleasures; you are going to drive across Ohio.
“In the morning I awoke early and experienced that sinking sensation … Read More
For most of us the rules of English grammar are at best a dimly remembered thing. But even for those who make the rules, grammatical correctitude sometimes proves easier to urge than to achieve. Among the errors cited in this book are a number committed by some of the leading authorities of this century. If men such as Fowler and Bernstein and Quirk and Howard cannot always get their English right, is it reasonable to expect the rest of us to?
“For most of us the rules of English grammar are at … Read More
Those who sniff decay in every shift of sense or alteration of usage do the language no service. Too often for such people the notion of good English has less to do with expressing ideas clearly than with making words conform to some arbitrary pattern.
“Those who sniff decay in every shift of sense or alteration … Read More
At a conference of sociologists in America in 1977, love was defined as “the cognitive-affective state characterized by intrusive and obsessive fantasizing concerning reciprocity of amorant feelings by the object of the amorance.” That is jargon – the practice of never calling a spade a spade when you might instead call it a manual earth-restructuring implement – and it is one of the great curses of modern English.
“At a conference of sociologists in America in 1977, love was … Read More
Coming back to your native land after an absence of many years is a surprisingly unsettling business, a little like waking from a long coma. Time, you discover, has wrought changes that leave you feeling mildly foolish and out of touch.
“Coming back to your native land after an absence of many … Read More
Taxonomy is described sometimes as a science and sometimes as an art, but really it’s a battleground.
“Taxonomy is described sometimes as a science and sometimes as an … Read More
Britain still has the most reliably beautiful countryside of anywhere in the world. I would hate to be part of the generation that allowed that to be lost.
“Britain still has the most reliably beautiful countryside of anywhere in … Read More
You may find that your parents are the most delightful people, but you don’t want to live with them.
“You may find that your parents are the most delightful people, … Read More
Entirely incidentally, a little-known fact about Shakespeare is that his father moved to Stratford-upon-Avon from a nearby village shortly before his son’s birth. Had he not done so, the Bard of Avon would instead be known as the rather less ringing Bard of Snitterfield.
“Entirely incidentally, a little-known fact about Shakespeare is that his father … Read More
Our instinct may be to see the impossibility of tracking everything down as frustrating, dispiriting, perhaps even appalling, but it can just as well be viewed as almost unbearably exciting. We live on a planet that has a more or less infinite capacity to surprise. What reasoning person could possibly want it any other way?
“Our instinct may be to see the impossibility of tracking everything … Read More
Woods are not like other spaces. To begin with, they are cubic. Their trees surround you, loom over you, press in from all sides. Woods choke off views & leave you muddled & without bearings. They make you feel small & confused & vulnerable, like a small child lost in a crowd of strange legs. Stand in a desert or prairie & you know you are in a big space. Stand in the woods and you only sense it. They are vast, featureless nowhere. And they are alive.
“Woods are not like other spaces. To begin with, they are … Read More
Everywhere throughout New England you find old, tumbledown field walls, often in the middle of the deepest, most settled- looking woods- a reminder of just how swiftly nature reclaims the land in America.
“Everywhere throughout New England you find old, tumbledown field walls, often … Read More
But I got a great deal else from the experience. I learned to pitch a tent and sleep beneath the stars. For a brief, proud period I was slender and fit. I gained a profound respect for the wilderness and nature and the benign dark power of woods. I understand now, in a way I never did before, the colossal scale of the world. I found patience and fortitude that I didn’t know I had. I discovered an America that millions of people scarcely know exists. I made a friend. I came home.
“But I got a great deal else from the experience. I … Read More