The Path - by Chet Raymo (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For almost forty years, Chet Raymo has walked a one-mile path from his house to the college where he taught, chronicling the universe he has found through observing every detail of his route with a scientist's curiosity, a historian's respect for the past, and a child's capacity for wonder. With each step, the landscape he traversed became richer, suggesting deeper and deeper aspects of astronomy, history, biology, and literature, and making the path universal in scope. His insights inspire us to turn out local paths-- whether through cities, suburbs, or rural areas-- into portals to greater understanding of our interconnectedness with nature and history.

From the Back Cover

For almost forty years, Chet Raymo has walked a one-mile path from his house to the college where he taught, chronicling the universe he has found through observing every detail of his route with a scientist's curiosity, a historian's respect for the past, and a child's capacity for wonder. With each step, the landscape he traversed became richer, suggesting deeper and deeper aspects of astronomy, history, biology, and literature, and making the path universal in scope. His insights inspire us to turn out local paths-- whether through cities, suburbs, or rural areas-- into portals to greater understanding of our interconnectedness with nature and history.

Chet Raymo is the noted author of An Intimate Look at the Night Sky, Skeptics and True Believers, Natural Prayers, and 365 Starry Nights. His popular weekly column, "Science Musings," appeared in the Boston Globe from 1983 until 2003. A professor emeritus of physics amd astronomy at Stonehill College, he lives in North Easton, Massachusetts.

"[The Path] is science gracefully applied to the familiar, and its emphasis on the human as an integral part of nature makes it something more than merely informative-- a work of edification, a wisdom book."-- The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Here Raymo seeks-- and finds-- the laws of nature and the existential problems of man hidden under every leaf and rock, or caught in the murmur of running water .... [The] final effect is contagious, even challenging: What history is hidden outside your front door?"-- Los Angeles Times

"Raymo has written a book of patience and place, of the small pieces that combine to help one understand the larger world .... He has given us impetus to know our own back yards better."-- The Seattle Times

Review Quotes

"[The Path] is science gracefully applied to the familiar, and its emphasis on the human as an integral part of nature makes it something more than merely informative-- a work of edification, a wisdom book." --The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Here Raymo seeks-- and finds-- the laws of nature and the existential problems of man hidden under every leaf and rock, or caught in the murmur of running water .... [The] final effect is contagious, even challenging: What history is hidden outside your front door?" --Los Angeles Times

"Raymo has written a book of patience and place, of the small pieces that combine to help one understand the larger world .... He has given us impetus to know our own back yards better." --The Seattle Times

About the Author

Chet Raymo is the noted author of An Intimate Look at the Night Sky, Skeptics and True Believers, Natural Prayers, and 365 Starry Nights. His popular weekly column, "Science Musings," appeared in the Boston Globe from 1983 until 2003. A professor emeritus of physics amd astronomy at Stonehill College, he lives in North Easton, Massachusetts.