Introduction to Every Atom by project curator Brian Clements
And limitless are leaves stiff or drooping in the fields,
The literary exploration of nature, like the physical exploration, has tended to fix on the grand and the grandiose--the “rocks and ice” wildernesses that have been preserved the world over. But of course the real world is mostly leaves and ants and mullein and poke-weed--it is the lovely unstoppable warble of insect song droning on in the background (until, maybe, the haze of pesticide drowns it out).
Bill McKibben is an author and environmentalist whose book The End of Nature is widely considered to be the first book for general audiences on climate change. He is the founder of 350.org, which advocates for an end to fossil fuel usage and the adoption of renewable energy sources. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, he is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College.
Cover art by J. D. Schraffenberger