Earth Wisdom: John Muir, Accidental Taoist, Charts Humanity's Only Future on a Changing Planet - Paperback

by Raymond Barnett (Author)

Earth Wisdom charts John Muir's amazing wilderness adventures and explores the worldview that sprang from them: a way of seeing the world unique in the West, with echoes only in the Taoism of ancient China. So challenging is Muir's philosophy, here termed "earth wisdom," that the environmental movement has let it remain hidden in Muir's little-known journals for a century. But Muir's worldview now provides the "new way of thinking" called for by Pope Francis to rescue humanity from the existential threat of climate change; Earth Wisdom shows how and why, touching on the needed changes in our economy, society, and way of life.

Author Biography

Raymond Barnett grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At Yale University he studied the Chinese language and graduated magna cum laude in Chinese history. After studying theology for a year at New York City's Union Theological Seminary, Barnett served with the U.S. Army in the Republic (sic) of Vietnam at Long Binh, working in the Surgeon General's Office at Headquarters, U.S. Army Vietnam. Upon earning his Ph.D. in evolutionary ecology from Duke University, Barnett spent the next three decades on the Biological Sciences faculty at California State University, Chico. During this time he worked with community leaders to found Chico's Gateway Science Museum. When he retired, the museum Board proclaimed Barnett "Father of the Museum." Barnett and his wife were among seven founding families of Valley Oaks Village, a cohousing community in Chico, California. Barnett's interests include snorkeling and tide pooling in Hawaii and California, kayaking California's coasts and rivers, backpacking in the High Sierra, mystery stories (particularly Sherlock Holmes, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Judge Dee), the culture of traditional China (particularly the tea cult and porcelain), and music of the Baroque in Europe (particularly Antonio Vivaldi and J. S. Bach). Descriptions of his fiction and nonfiction writings can be found at www.raymondbarnett.com.