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2023-2024 Common Read - Braiding Sweetgrass: Asters and Goldenrod

"Science and art, matter and spirit, indigenous knowledge and Western science— can they be goldenrod and asters for each other?" p. 47

Purple asters and goldenrod

Nicholas A. Tonelli from Northeast Pennsylvania, USA, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Louis Vieux

Image courtesy of the Kansas Historical Society

Louis Vieux Elm before its death

The Louis Vieux Elm Tree Park, before the stump was burned by arson in 2011

Bhall87, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

A bee extracting nectar from an aster flower

John Severns (Severnjc), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Keywords

Alchemy: a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way.  (MW)

Arboretum: a place where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes.  (MW)

Botany: a branch of biology dealing with plant life. (YA)

Biophysical: the application of physical principles and methods to biological problems. (YA)

Ecology: a branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their environments.  (YA)

Objectivity: the ability to consider or represent facts, information, etc., without being influenced by personal feelings or opinions. (OED)

Primacy: the state of being first (as in importance, order, or rank).  (MW) 

Reductionist: showing the belief that complicated things can be explained by considering them as a combination of simple parts. (OED)

Taxonomy: the study of the general principles of scientific classification.  (MW)

Vacillate: to waver in mind, will, or feeling : hesitate in choice of opinions or courses.  (MW)

Additional Resources