Natural History
Articles are sorted by date with the most recently published first.
Serenading Belugas in the White Sea
by David Rothenberg
Photographs by Anna Koivisto
A clarinetist ventures forth to make music with the white whales of the White Sea
Pulling the Plug
by Robert Michael Pyle
Can a successful TV-totaler make the ultimate sacrifice of electrons?
Stalking the Wild Groundnut
by Tamara Dean
Photo by Jason Houston
Once a staple and the subject of much interest, the groundnut, a forgotten food, whets a contemporary curiosity.
Seeing Deer
by Craig Childs
They come down into the valleys in autumn, where chance meetings will seal their fates.
Don Berto’s Garden
by David G. Campbell
Illustrations by Molly Bang
The plants of the ancient Maya whisper their secrets to those who speak a shared language.
License to Kill
by Robert Michael Pyle
Killing other creatures, whether direct or by proxy, are an inevitable part of being among the living.
Structural Poetry
Paintings and text by Zsuzsanna Szegedi
Seen from a propitious angle, the bare bones of trees reveal the beauty of aging.
What’s the Use of Pets?
by Ginger Strand
In a bazaar that offers everything imaginable (and then some) for pets, you could forget why we domesticated them in the first place.
The Tumult of Vision
Photographs by Matthew Chase-Daniel
Text by David Abram
Multiple moments from the same landscape compel our participation in the montage we call nature.
Window of Possibility
by Anthony Doerr
Why one particular photograph should be in every classroom in the world.
Polymers Are Forever
by Alan Weisman
There was hardly any prior to 1945, but it may now be the most ubiquitous man-made substance on Earth.
The Consolations of Extinction
by Christopher Cokinos
Feeling responsible for saving the entire biosphere can be a real drag, but one can take comfort in those who've come and gone before.
Evolving, Swiftly
by Robert Michael Pyle
Animals can adapt to modified habitats, but can humans adapt to save both the animals and themselves?
A Day of Discovery
by Richard Preston
Slogging for hours through dense, unforgiving forest, two lost naturalists find the botanical mother lode: the largest living things on earth.
The Territory of Tint
by Robert Michael Pyle
What constitutes a Kodak moment may range widely among humans, even wider among Fidos and fritillaries.
Tracking Tar
by William L. Fox
Beneath the streets of L.A., geology is dramatic, and more nuanced than Hollywood's most dazzling special effects make it out to be.
The Perfect Predator
by Sonia Shah
A mosquito, a parasite, and the misguided ethos that allowed both to prosper.
The Tears of Trees
by Victoria Finlay
Following a gemstone back to its source reveals a whole spectrum of curiosities.
Learning to Surf
by David Gessner
David Gessner's artful essay on what pelicans have to teach him about trying something new has won the 2006 John Burroughs Essay Award.
The Nature of Violence
text by Jeffrey A. Lockwood
This thoughtful essay about violence was included in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007.
Notes on the Subject of Contrails
by Matt Rasmussen
On the day the sky stood still, should we have been paying more attention?
The Naturalist
by Barry Lopez
In a world invested in hypermaterialism, the naturalist's imagination is needed more than ever.
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