An Attitude of Wonder

Years ago, as a collector of antiquarian natural history books, I made a wonderful discovery in an old bookshop in Washington, DC.  I found a 1953 copy of Homo sapiens auduboniensis secreted in the back of a dusty shelf and forgotten for decades.  I think I paid $1.00 for it – probably the original cost of the hardback volume.  In the days before the internet and its high-speed search engines, I had been hunting in vain for this book for years.

Homo sapiens auduboniensis was published by the National Audubon Society as a tribute to cognitive psychologist Walter VanDyke Bingham (1880-1952), one of the early supporters of the Society’s wildlife camp on Hog Island off the coast from Damariscotta, Maine.  In the book, Dr. Bingham provided what he called preliminary notes on the “behavior and ethology of Homo sapiens auduboniensis.”  He attributed this epithet to those among us who devote their lives to conservation and the study of natural history.  Dr. Bingham provided a list of telltale signs for identifying that rare subspecies: a lifelong preference for the outdoors, little deterrence from our pursuits by discomforts and difficulties, an absorbing curiosity about the natural world, a sensitivity to the beauty and worth of different forms of life, a proclivity toward collecting though not if specimens are rare or endangered, an ability to observe in detail, a talent to describe accurately, an aptitude for scientific thinking, a curiosity that extends to connections and relationships, and – importantly – an attitude of wonder.

Further, for those individuals who most greatly benefit humankind, yet another characteristic – the capacity to make their interests and enthusiasms contagious.

Though a nearly forgotten book, Homo sapiens auduboniensis offers an enduring analysis of what it takes for individuals to become avid environmental leaders.  For educators, this little volume provides a priceless roadmap to help distinguish young people most likely to make a difference in our ole’ world.  I recommend its reading to all.

These days I worry about that “attitude of wonder” among young people.  For that matter, among all of us!  Our recent wintry weather notwithstanding, the trappings of our 21st century lifestyles entice us indoors rather than encourage us outdoors.  Like any other addiction, sitting inside with all the comforts of classroom, home, and office becomes progressively easier with subsequent opportunities lost for discovery in the natural world just beyond the walls of our confinement.  We forget our animal nature, becoming both warden and inmate in our contrived worlds, at great peril to our psyche and our spirit.  With every opportunity lost to explore the outdoors, however briefly, we lose yet another chance to enrich our wonderment about nature.  And to diminish our sense of wonder is to diminish our humanity.

Another book that I highly recommend to our readers is Richard Louv’s 2005 bestseller, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.  The title tells all.  Louv’s book speaks to what we need to do long-term to protect the world’s natural resources: invest in the education of young people, especially to get them outdoors for healthy, even life-changing, experiences in the natural world!  Without such an experiential base that is wide and deep, their generation may lose any serious commitment to conservation when today’s youths become tomorrow’s voting adults.  It’s easy for young people to overlook a bald eagle or lady-slipper orchid when they can’t even remember their last experience, exploring the out-of-doors.

On a national level, we’ve heard numerous spirited discussions recently about science education: standards, forums, accreditation, research findings, case studies, policies, and such.  But where in all this debate is an emphasis on developing a sense of wonder?  As a science educator, I would rather my students have an overarching sense of wonder about the natural world over a head full of arcane formulae and memorized trivia.  First the heart – empathy, compassion, imagination, humility – then the mind.  Ultimately, we need to engage both for the wisdom of maturity manifested as a life-long, rational commitment to the natural world around us; but let us first awake the soul of our humanity through a joy-filled heart.

Nineteenth-century French microbiologist Louis Pasteur once stated, “In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.”  Indeed.  A prepared mind, however, is preceded by a prepared heart.  Such preparation begins with a respect for life as an ancient, complex, biologically diverse, ever-evolving, wonder-filled Earth system here on our little speck of dust caught in a sunbeam.