Woods Wanderer

I’m pleased to announce that The Impossible Cosmos is now in print. I received the first shipment of books yesterday and wasted no time making it available at the Wood Thrush Books website. It is also available at Amazon as both a paperback and an ebook.

Some of you have been listening to me talk about the cosmos for over a decade, ever since I got serious about astronomy and acquired a 4.5-inch Newtonian telescope. Well, here’s the whole story, from my first gaze skyward to crazed galaxy hunting. Plenty of speculation about the universe, as well – both mine and those of priests, philosophers and scientists since the beginning of civilization.

Space is the ultimate wilderness. It is Nature on a grand scale. In my longstanding quest to understand our place in the natural world, it only made sense that I would eventually turn skyward. What’s surprising is how quickly and easily I found my inner geek in the process.

For those of you who are waiting for another hiking narrative, I’m sorry to disappoint. At one point in this book I am silly enough to haul my telescope into the mountains for better viewing, but most of the action takes place in my back yard.

Here’s everything you always wanted to know about the cosmos but were afraid to ask. A good place to start, anyhow. My narrative stretches from the constellations to the latest developments in astrophysics. Fun stuff, if you don’t mind having your head explode every once in a while. So then, if you’re up for it, check out my book.

Tags: amateur astronomy, astronomy, cosmology, cosmos, night sky

Yesterday I finished writing the cosmos book. I’ve been hard at work on the last draft of it for a couple months now. A year ago I pulled the manuscript from storage, where it had been languishing since 2005. A quick perusal convinced me that the manuscript was worth finishing and eventually publishing even though it’s not the kind of thing one expects from a nature writer. What can I say? Sometimes passion trumps practicality.

The cosmos is nature on the grand scale. With a 4.5-inch telescope, a little help from astronomy books and the Internet, I have wandered through the night sky for years, frequently visiting spiral galaxies, nebulas and other mind-blowing phenomena. These wanderings have fueled my wildest speculations about the nature of the universe and our place in it.

Whenever I tramp through the woods, I marvel at the dance of order and chaos that is wild nature. Whenever I spend enough time alone in the forest, I feel that wildness emerge from deep within me. Now I see that same wildness in the swirl of galaxies millions of light years away. It is all connected

No doubt those of you familiar with my work can see where I’m going with this. Back from the cosmos, I’m headed for that ethereal realm where mystics, philosophers and theologians spend their days. I’m already deep in it, actually. The path between cosmology and God-talk is a short one. But don’t worry. I’ll keep at least one foot on the ground. I’ll step away from my mad speculations long enough this winter to self-publish the Maine hiking narrative that so many of you have been waiting for. Above all else, I want to keep it real.

Tags: cosmology, cosmos, nature, pantheism, wildness