The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age [Paperback]

Richard Louv (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2012

For many of us, thinking about the future conjures up images of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road: a post-apocalyptic dystopia stripped of nature. Richard Louv, author of the landmark bestseller Last Child in the Woods, urges us to change our vision of the future, suggesting that if we reconceive environmentalism and sustainability, they will evolve into a larger movement that will touch every part of society.

This New Nature Movement taps into the restorative powers of the natural world to boost mental acuity and creativity; promote health and wellness; build smarter and more sustainable businesses, communities, and economies; and ultimately strengthen human bonds. Supported by groundbreaking research, anecdotal evidence, and compelling personal stories, Louv offers renewed optimism while challenging us to rethink the way we live.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this sanguine, wide-ranging study of how humans can thrive through the "renaturing of everyday life," Louv takes nature deficit disorder, introduced in his seminal Last Child in the Woods, a step further, to argue that adults need nature, too. "A reconnection to the natural world is fundamental to human health," he writes, asking, "What would our lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in electronics?" Louv's "Nature Principle" consists of seven precepts, including balancing technology excess with time in nature; a mind/body/nature connection, which Louv calls "vitamin N," that enhances physical and mental health; expanding our sense of community to include all living things; and purposefully developing a spiritual, psychological, physical attachment to a region and its natural history. The book presents examples of these precepts, from studies of how exposure to a common soil bacteria increases production of serotonin in the brain to designing shopping malls inspired by termite mounds. Although lightweight for longtime nature lovers, the book may be just what our high-tech, urban culture needs to bring us down to earth. (May)
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Review

“There is a great urgency to this work . . . This book makes utter sense and Louv is gentle with his simple agenda: more green in schools, more access to nature in communities, the importance of giving people the tools and the health they need to create a better world.”
—Los Angeles Times

“The Nature Principle tackles the ambitious task of mapping our way to a more connected future . . . Page after page we learn that in working to heal the world through restoration, we end up healing ourselves.”
—Orion magazine


“The Nature Principle manages to both teach and delight. Think of it as a refreshing hike for the mind and soul.” —Oprah.com



“Louv’s vital, inclusive, and inspiriting call to better our lives by celebrating and protecting the living world marks the way to profound personal and cultural transformation.” —Booklist, starred review



“This book provides a way back to where we belong, a world full of reverence, joy, and discovery.”
—David Suzuki, author of The Sacred Balance

“Louv’s vision is not a rejection of technology or a back-to-the-land trend like the one that came out of the environmental movement 40 years ago. Instead, he wants to tap nature to boost our mental acuity, creativity and health. At its heart, the movement seeks to replace the apocalyptic vision that modern society has created….[ Louv] outlines this new nature movement, and its potential to improve the lives of all people no matter where they live, in his latest book, “The Nature Principle.’” — McClatchy Newspapers

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; Reprint edition (April 17, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 161620141X
• ISBN-13: 978-1616201418
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Ecology
  • #84 in Books > Science & Math > Environment

More About the Author

VISIT www.RichardLouv.com
TAKE ACTION AT www.childrenandnature.org


Richard Louv is a journalist and author of eight books about the connections between family, nature and community. His newest book is The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin), which offers a new vision of the future, in which our lives are as immersed in nature as they are in technology. This future, available to all of us right now, offers better psychological, physical and spiritual health for people of every age.

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin), translated into 10 languages and published in 15 countries, has stimulated an international conversation about the relationship between children and nature. Louv is also the founding chairman of the Children & Nature Network at www.childrenandnature.org, an organization helping build the movement to connect today's children and future generations to the natural world. Louv coined the term Nature-Deficit Disorder™ which has become the defining phrase of this important issue.

In 2008, he was awarded the Audubon Medal, presented by the National Audubon Society. Prior recipients have included Rachel Carson, E. O. Wilson and President Jimmy Carter. Louv is also the recipient of the Cox Award for 2007, Clemson University's highest honor, for "sustained achievement in public service" and has been a Clemson visiting professor. Among other awards, Louv is the recipient of the 2008 San Diego Zoological Society Conservation Medal, the 2008 George B. Rabb Conservation Medal from the Chicago Zoological Society, and the 2009 International Making Cities Livable Jane Jacobs Award. He also serves as Honorary Co-chairman, with artist Robert Bateman, of Canada's national Children and Nature Alliance.

Louv has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times of London, and other major publications. He has appeared on many national TV shows, including NBC's Today Show and Nightly News, CBS Evening News, ABC's Good Morning America, and NPR's Morning Edition, Fresh Air, and Talk of the Nation. Between 1984 and 2007 he was a columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune and has been a columnist and member of the editorial advisory board for Parents magazine. Louv was an advisor to the Ford Foundation's Leadership for a Changing World award program. He serves on the board of directors of ecoAmerica and is a member of the Citistates Group. He has appeared before the Domestic Policy Council in the White House as well as at major governmental and professional conferences, nationally and internationally, most recently as keynote speaker at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference.

He is married to Kathy Frederick Louv and the father of two young men, Jason, 29 and Matthew, 23. He would rather fish than write.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book on the importance of bringing nature home April 20, 2011

By Elliott Wright

Format:Hardcover

Now having read an advanced copy of Louv's new book The Nature Principle, I am moved by his case for bringing nature into our urban centers. Louv is correct that adults need nature too...we need it to weave our affinity for nature together with our day-to-day surroundings. This book is the best overall summary of many different works, and does exceptionally well at revealing the growing body of research around the influence of nature on human health. His findings suggest that a lack of `nature nearby' may be associated with an epidemic of obesity and diabetes, asthma, behavior disorders, depression and a diminished sense of place and community. However, as Louv conveys in his book, he is optimistic the trend can be reversed if we bring nature back into our backyards, neighborhoods, and schools. This book is not simply to be read in passing, but incorporated into our daily experience of life.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great May 28, 2011

By Little People

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I would reccomend the Nature Principal to anyone interested in improving their health and well being of the environment. I am a teacher and I have gotten tons of ideas on how to help my students and families for their homes and the classroom. It is also a great reference book to keep going back to for a lot of home, gardening, and community activities.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Nature Principle May 5, 2011

By Amy Beam

Format:Hardcover

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to every human who has a body, mind and spirit! The Nature Principle is so informative and inspiring. Not only are the authors observations and concerns explored in an easily accessible manner, but they also provoke thoughtful consideration and suggest reasonable action. I had intended to read this book outdoors, but found myself moving inside to my reading lamp as the sun went down! It was too compelling to put down as night fell!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pull yourself away from electronic connections July 26, 2011

By AJ Turner

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Louv's first "nature volume"(Last Child In the Woods, The Nature-Deficit Disorder)reminded us of the need to get our kids into the outdoors, someway, somehow. Now, he reminds us that we adults need some "nature treatment" ourselves. We have to set the example for our families. He does it in readable/scientific/storytelling way. A fast, easy read? No, not if you want to understand the problems and connections to ADHD and obesity, not only in kids, but adults, too. I recommend both books!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and Full of Hope! July 1, 2011

By Maureen Calamia

Format:Hardcover

After reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, I was deeply moved and inspired to focus my career on this path. And seeing him speak at a Long Island event confirmed my resolution to do what I can to move myself and others away from nature deficit disorder.

Now this book brings much hope and inspiration for me and hopefully many, many others to follow. Louv covers a broad range of related topics and ideas for us to all find our own way of deepening our connection and helping others to find theirs.

Now, I am researching for my own book, taking much inspiration from Louv's books, to go deeper into how we can connect to nature within the built environment from a biophilic design and feng shui perspective. I am grateful to Louv, the broad range of like-minded individuals he interviewed and for Algonquin Press, to see the vision of how we can move into a more hopeful future. Bravo!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Get off the computer, put down the iPod and go outside! September 11, 2011

By C. L. Yarborough

Format:Hardcover

This book offers empirical evidence that time outdoors in nature makes us healthier, calms people with ADD, and lowers chances of obesity. In addition, studies have proven that time in nature makes a person more creative and increases intelligence levels. This does not have to be access to "100 acres" in the back woods of Oregon. Even people who have a view of a tree outside their window are positively impacted.

This book showed me that experiencing nature doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. It just needs to be regularly incorporated into our lives.

I highly recommend this book, with the one caveat that it is not light reading and is not a book to be read in one sitting. It's a book to be pondered and acted upon.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wake-Up Call to the Slaves of Technology September 7, 2011

By OtherWorlds&Wisdom

Format:Hardcover

In this sequel to Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, Louve continues his powerful plea for people to get back outside and reconnect with nature. No, this isn't some new-agish-touchy-feely movement. This is simply back to a few decades ago when children (and adults) ran wild outside, not living in fear in their homes, growing fat and unhealthy in front of their televisions. You had to drag kids back in. Adults spent the weekends outside, not paying the cable company obscene amounts of money to sit in their own living rooms. It was common sense that enjoying the outdoors was healthy. Since man first appeared, the wilderness helped him relax, unstress and heal. After much progress in health and conservation, now we are on the backward slide of seeing the potential of the new generations not being as healthy or living as long. Too much blind acceptance that everything we eat or do is safe. Addicted to technology so that we can't socially function or have any survival skills. There is, however, hope. Many see that simpler is sometimes better. Nature isn't some abstract hippie theory. Our excesses have impacted health. Yes, technology is important, but has its limits. The past futurists saw it as an aid, a time saver, not a hinderance to human function or our future development. Future-thinking towns are building parks again. Trails. Outdoor church. These aren't new ideas. Just forgotten ones. Sometimes Louv, and others, make our connection to nature to be a result of the failed evolution paradigm (com/Origins-Life-Biblical-Evolutionary-Models/dp/1576833445">Origins of Life, Who Was Adam?, The Cell's Design). We wouldn't be here if we relied on chance. No, our many thousands of years of living in nature has made the connection. Our sharing of the same elements and structures. We are connected deeply, but also are still very unique. We are designed to be compatible, to eat from nature, our bodies don't know what to do with synthetic food and chemicals, we get sick. We are a technological society and always will be. Man, however, has a history of over-doing it and self-destructing. Louv's books are an important wake-up call to all. The sort of books all should read. See also Simple Life, Back to Basics & Better Off. Read more ›