It isn’t easy to love that which we cannot name. And it is even more difficult to love that which cannot talk because it cannot tell its story. And we need stories to understand someone. Without stories, I wonder how we can ever love trees, mountains, birds.
It seems then that the natural sciences is the language through which we can uncover these stories. A jump-off point for conversing with the natural world. Through science, we observe plants, animals, rocks, soil—all non-speaking entities—to understand where they come from, what they want, where they are going. They talk through their actions, through non-human sounds, and we interpret them by deducing the patterns they create. When I walk and see that the kapok has stopped producing new cotton, and those that fell are melting under the sun, I know that it was done colonizing open areas, and summer is closing soon.
Perhaps this is why Thoreau and Dillard cared a lot abou the natural sciences as much as they loved poetry. Through the natural sciences, they established that familiarity with the subject of their writing. They were able to call plants, animals, and even geographic locations by their names. And with calling them by their names comes the possibility of real connection.