MetaFilter posts tagged with observation

"...a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals."

jquinby — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:00:28 -0800

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. " - Henry Beston, naturalist and writer. The quote, often seen in veterinary waiting rooms, continues:

We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.

Henry Beston (1888 - 1968) wrote a variety of books - including fairy stories - but is probably best known for The Outermost House, which chronicles a year spent in a tiny 20'x16' shack on the outer tip of Cape Cod. His only companions were the various migrating birds, the sea and the constant shore patrols of the nearby Coast Guard station. He had gone there to spend a bit of time spiritually recovering from his service in WW1, and ended up creating a masterpiece of American nature writing.

Painted Lady data swarm

the Real Dan — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:08:37 -0800

Genus Vanessa butterflies are migrating now in North America, and you can help track them by submitting your observations. They could use a lot more data for their interactive map.

"...we see on the ground a number of spots of light, scattered irregularly, some large, some small..."

jquinby — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:26:37 -0800

The Nature of Light and Color in the Open Air "Moreover, this book is written for all those who love Nature; for the young people going out into the wide world and gathering together round the camp-fire; for the painter who admires but does not understand the light and colour of the landscape; for those living in the country; for all who delight in travelling; and also for town-dwellers, for whom, even in the noise and clamour of our dark streets, the manifestations of Nature remain." - Marcel Minnaert Marcel Minnaert (1893 - 1970) was a Belgian astronomer whose other interests included (among other things) bubbles and their pulsations, the solar spectrum, and poetry. During World War II, he taught astronomy to his fellow prisoners. In 1951, he was awarded the Bruce Medal. A asteroid and crater on the moon have been named for him, as has a building at Utrecht University. One of his most accessible and abiding legacies is a little book - The Nature of Light & Colour in the Open Air, which is no less than a complete guide to the visual phenomena that surround us. Minnaert explains, in layman's terms, why stars twinkle, illusions of motion, how to build a nigrometer to explore the effects of distance on light and color, what causes the fata morgana, and why, exactly, the sun makes circles when viewed through hair or the twigs of a tree. These and a hundred other visual curiosities are explored and explained at length with helpful diagrams and occasional geometry. The latest edition (linked in the title) has been re-typeset and includes color photography. Edward Tufte calls it a change-your-life classic.

John Stilgoe wants you to go outside and look at things a little differently.

jquinby — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:28:02 -0800

John Stilgoe is a professor at Harvard who teaches his students how to, among other things, mindfully observe the urban and suburban environments they inhabit. Moving slowly and deliberately throughout the sprawl, one can (if properly trained) read the entire history of an area in the minute details of the overhead power lines, road surfaces, rail lines, survey markers and even drainage lines. He urges his students (and everyone else for that matter) to go outside, walk deliberately, and observe the spaces in and around their landscape. He wrote a book awhile back to help get you started, but it might not hurt to pick up a field guide or two before setting out to reclaim a sense of history and place in your neighborhood. By the way: he wants everyone to know that passing a picket fence at 11mph will render it invisible. Stilgoe, previously. (Special thanks to occhiblu who answered my question about Stilgoe in this AskMefi)