Nature’s Chaos
MINI REVIEW: Intriguing Text and Beautifully Unusual Photographs
A fascinating introduction to the science of chaos, richly illustrated with 103 nature photos. Science writer James Gleick teams up with nature photographer Eliot Porter to produce this gorgeous little book.
Nature’s Chaos
(Paperback Edition)
Read All About It
Nature’s Chaos is a clear and approachable introduction to the recent science of chaos comprised of an essay by James Gleick (a science writer whose first book Chaos was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and was a national bestseller) and more than a hundred glowing photographs by internationally-renowned nature photograher Eliot Porter.
In just about 16 pages of text, Gleick covers the basic concepts behind chaos science. From the beginning, he slowly chips away at the ordinary manner in which we view nature, historically considered to be most “beautiful” when tamed and controlled by humans. Gleick discusses the history of science, emerging concepts like fractals, the apparent consistency of nature’s proportions and patterns whether manifested at large macro levels or infinitessimally small micro levels, and more. He also ably ties this new science to the types of views caught by Eliot Porter’s remarkably gifted eye.
See Another Side of Our World
In a Foreword to the book, Porter describes his interest in the natural world, in his sense of wonder kindled by early studies in the biological and physical sciences. According to the Porter entry on Wikipedia, Porter earned degrees in chemical engineering and medicine and worked as a biochemical researcher at Harvard University. Clearly a bright guy, and I believe his scientific and medical interests gave him a unique outlook on the natural world that set him apart from other photographers, even the best ones, in emphasis as much as in quality.
Pahoehoe Rope Lava
Craters of the Moon, Idaho
You can see in the varied photos that illustrate this book that Porter’s contention that, “Nature should be viewed without distinction. All her processes and evolutions are beautiful or ugly to the unbiased and undiscriminating observer. She makes no choice herself—everything that happens has equal significance.” is at work as he captures nature in a multitude of new poses. These are not your typical nature photos of glorious blue skys and lofty snow-capped peaks (as beautiful as those very often are).
Slow, repeated viewing of Porter’s mysteriously haunting pictures are rewarded with scales falling from the eyes, refreshing your view of our world with a new appreciation of the infinite variety of imaginative creation that appears in nature. It does take some work to see anew, but the ability to see the world as it really is seems to be the endpoint of Porter’s work, and a goal of the new science of chaos. This is a terrific little book.
James Gleick
- James Gleick
- Faster
- CHAOS: the Software
- American Scientist
- New York Times
- Wired Magazine
- AbsoluteAstronomy.com
- Wikipedia
Eliot Porter
Product Information
- Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
- Copyright: © 1990
- ISBN 10: 0316609420
- ISBN 13: 9780316609425
- New York Times Book Review
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Quotes From The Book
- “When a child draws a tree, a green mass sits atop a brown trunk, as if the basic shape were like a Popsicle. A child’s cloud is a smoothly rounded bulk, perhaps with wavy or scalloped edges. These are not the clouds we see. They are highly stylized forms, like the international symbols for Railroad Crossing or No Smoking. As children or adults, we own a repertoire of such stylized images, like ideograms in Chinese painting. First they help us see—for without such templates, our minds are powerless to sift the welter of sensations that bombard our eyes and ears. But they hinder our seeing, too. The rivers, the clouds, the snowflakes of our usual perceptual tool kits miss much of nature’s true complexity: the intricate recursion, the convoluted flows within flows within flows. Our mental lightning bolts are Z’s, our volcanoes are inverted and decapitated cones, our rivers are lines. Nature’s are not so simple.”
- James Gleick
- “To most people, I am sure, the beauty of nature means such features as the flowers of spring, autumn foliage, mountain landscapes, and other similar aspects. That they are beautiful is indisputable; yet they are not all that is beautiful about nature. They are the peaks and summits of nature’s greatest displays. But underlying and supporting these brilliant displays are slow, quiet processes that pass almost unnoticed from season to season—unnoticed, that is, by those who think that the beauty in nature is all in its gaudy displays. Yet, how much is missed if we have eyes only for the bright colors.”
- Eliot Porter
Dry Tropical Forest Floor
Palo Verde Park, Costa Rica
Rock-Eroded Stream Bed
Coyote Gulch, Utah
