"Far from its outward appearance, the rain forest was not a garden of easy abundance, but precisely the opposite. Its quiet, shaded halls of leafy opulence were not a sanctuary but, rather, the greatest natural battlefield anywhere on the planet, hosting an unremitting and remorseless fight for survival that occupied every single one of its inhabitants, every minute of every day. Though frequently impossible for a casual observable to discern, every inch of space was alive -- from the black, teeming soil under Roosevelt's boots to the top of the canopy far above his head -- and everything was connected. A long, linked mat of fungi under the soil consumed the dead and fed the living, completing an ever-changing cycle of remarkable life and commonplace death which had throbbed without pause for millions of years -- and of which Roosevelt and his men, knowingly or not, had now become a part."
This passage is taken from The River of Doubt: Teddy Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard, which is a terrific chronicle of exploration and adventure from a century ago. Teddy Roosevelt was exploring the Amazon in 1913 and 1914, after his presidency, on a quest to find the source of the River of Doubt (an uncharted river at the time). He and his men quickly found themselves in the thickest parts of the living jungle, truly a part of nature, vulnerable to all the elements, and at times struggling to survive.
My hope is that this blog will parallel our class's progress through the study of Biology, starting from the smallest scale of atoms, molecules, and cells, through an understanding of energy, natural selection, and interdependence of organisms and ecosystems. As Millard writes above, "every inch of space was alive... and everything was connected."
Mr. Lilley
November 29, 2010
