Darwin the Storyteller
Darwin’s writings show that stories are central to ecology — and that appreciating nature as a portfolio of wondrous, pristine places is an obstacle to ecological literacy.
By The Revelator and John MacNeill Miller
There’s not much to see on a heath.
These landscapes, which once covered more than 11,000 square miles of Great Britain and northwest Europe, are all but featureless. Trees do not grow there. The only vegetation that thrives on heathland is a squat, monotonous cloak of prickly gorse and heather shrubs, occasionally interrupted by the odd holly bush or clump of ferns. Some wildlife inhabit these deserted places, but they are typically scattered widely or hidden beneath the shrubs. Heaths aren’t known for stunning cliffs, mountains, or rock formations, either. Typically their terrain ranges from relatively flat land to gently rolling hills. The effect is anything but picturesque: Heathlands leave no place for the eye to rest, no pleasing contrasts for it to explore, no sense of action at all.
