The History of Metaphors of Nature

Book excerpt: This book shows how modern European Languages have a large number of metaphors which represent the whole of nature. For example, Mother Nature, the celestial harmony, the great chain of being, and the book of nature, are used in natural science and in literature. These and other metaphors have a powerful influence on the framing of scientific hypothesis making, and these words have guided the history of natural science for several millennia. Each chapter in this book is a parallel longitudinal history of a word or phrase which represents the whole of nature, and which has influenced natural science and general literature, and especially North American nature writing.