The Naturalist
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
"The surprising story of our "naturalist president" Theodore Roosevelt and how his lifelong passion for the natural world set the stage for America's wildlife conservation movement. No United States president is more popularly associated with nature and wildlife than Theodore Roosevelt--prodigious hunter, tireless adventurer, and ardent conservationist. We think of him as a larger-than-life original, yet in The Naturalist, Darrin Lunde has located Roosevelt in the proud tradition of museum naturalism. From his earliest days, Roosevelt actively modeled himself on the men who pioneered a key branch of biology through the collection of animal specimens and by developing a taxonomy of the natural world. The influence they would have on Roosevelt shaped not only his audacious personality but his career, informing his work as a statesman and ultimately affecting generations of Americans' relationship to this country's wilderness. Drawing on Roosevelt's diaries and expedition journals and pulling from his own experience as a leading figure in today's museum naturalism, Lunde constructs a thoughtfully researched, singularly insightful history that tracks Roosevelt's maturation from exuberant boyhood hunter to vital champion of serious scientific inquiry"--
"A biography of Theodore Roosevelt focusing on his career as a naturalist, his role as a pioneer for wilderness engagement, and an early advocate for museum building"--
Reviews with the most likes.
eh this wasn't really my cup of tea and that's kind of on me–I mistakenly thought this was about the history of the national parks, which it is a liiittle bit, but it's mostly about big game hunting, which I just don't really enjoy reading about. I KNOW it's linked to conservation/museums, especially back in the day, but I don't want to read about the president killing a bunch of lions for funsies. I did like reading some of the parts about the history of museums, but mostly this was a combination of things I already knew or things I didn't care to learn about, SORRY.
the writing/research are fine but not the kind of extraordinary nonfiction prose that can make me care about things I wouldn't normally care about. (eg Susan Orlean). IT WAS FINE, if you're really into the history of big game hunting this would probably be your jam.
