David E. Nye

David E. Nye is Professor of American History at the University of Southern Denmark. He is the author of several books, including “American Illuminations,” “When the Lights Went Out,” and “Conflicted American Landscapes,” from which this article is adapted.

America’s Conflicted Landscapes

By David E. Nye, MIT Press Reader

Does nature represent eternity, ancestors, science, the present, the future, or a young earth? Is it to be revered, conserved, exploited, or sacrificed? A nation that identifies itself with nature begins to fall apart when it can no longer agree on what nature is.

April 22, 2021