The naturalist author of Refuge and An Unspoken Hunger reflects on what it means to be human, the interconnection between the natural and human worlds, and how they combine to produce both tumult and peace, ugliness and beauty.

"In The Transformation of Nature in Art, Ananda Coomaraswamy explains the theory behind medieval European and Asian art, especially art in India. He further supplements the Indian theory with that of the Chinese. The first principle of Asian art is that art does not exist for its own sake; it exists as means to religious conditions or experience. The comparison with medieval European art in this respect is extremely illuminating. He further shows...