P.S. Take Naturalist Notes Like Thoreau!

"...in Wildness is the preservation of the world"

Henry David Thoreau would weep to see the selection of apples in our contemporary orchards—not because there are so many varieties, but because there are so few. He predicted this would happen: In 1850, he wrote, “The era of wild apples will soon be over,” sacrificed to the sweeter fruits developed through grafting.¹

With the end of “the era of wild apples” came a larger depletion of natural resources and a dwindling in the varieties of plant life. While Thoreau couldn’t have anticipated it, his meticulous notes on nature have become incredibly valuable for climate scientists. His collection of plant specimens as well as his extensive charts documenting natural phenomena have helped scientists track how our environment has changed since the mid nineteenth-century.

So in honor of Earth-Day-week, let’s take a look at how Thoreau took notes on nature. Perhaps you might try to take some naturalist-notes today too!

These post-scripts offer paid subscribers a deeper dive into the note-takers I cover in Noted’s regular posts. You can read my full post on Thoreau’s notes for free here. If you look forward to reading Noted, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You’ll get access to our Commonplace Book Club, additional posts, and you’ll help keep this newsletter going! As always, if you can’t upgrade, send me a message and I’ll comp you.