Carolyn Merchant facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Carolyn Merchant
Born	(1936-07-12) 12 July 1936 (age 89) Rochester, New York
Nationality	American
Education	M.A. and Ph.D. in the History of Science
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin–Madison
Occupation	Ecofeminist philosopher, historian of science, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Environmental History, Philosophy, and Ethics at UC Berkeley
Notable work	Author of The Death of Nature

Carolyn Merchant (born July 12, 1936, in Rochester, New York) is an American philosopher and historian. She is well-known for her ideas about how people's views of nature have changed over time.

She is especially famous for her book, The Death of Nature. In this book, she suggests that during the Scientific Revolution in the 1600s, science started to see nature as something to be taken apart and studied like a machine. This idea helped shape how we think about nature today. Her work is very important in understanding both environmental history and the history of science. She is now a retired professor from UC Berkeley, where she taught about environmental history, philosophy, and ethics.

Education and Early Career

Carolyn Merchant was a very bright student from a young age. In 1954, while still in high school, she was one of the top ten finalists in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, a big competition for young scientists.

She went on to study Chemistry at Vassar College, earning her degree in 1958. After that, she attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. There, she earned her master's degree (M.A.) and her Ph.D. in the History of Science. She was one of the first women to receive a special fellowship, showing that women could make important contributions in professional fields. Her Ph.D. research focused on the history of scientific ideas.

Teaching and Research

From 1969 to 1978, Professor Merchant taught the History of Science at the University of San Francisco. She also spent time as a visiting professor at Oregon State University.

In 1979, she joined the University of California, Berkeley, as a professor. She taught about environmental history, philosophy, and ethics. She became a full professor in 1986 and retired in 2018. Since then, she has been a Professor of the Graduate School at UC Berkeley.

Throughout her career, she has received many honors. She was a Guggenheim fellow and a Fulbright scholar, which allowed her to study and teach in different places, including Sweden. She has given over 360 lectures around the world and her books have been reviewed more than 230 times.

The Death of Nature

The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution is Carolyn Merchant's most famous book. It was first published in 1980 and has been updated several times, most recently in 2020.

In this book, she explores how our understanding of nature changed during the Scientific Revolution. She argues that before this time, many people saw nature as a nurturing mother. However, as science developed, nature began to be seen more like a machine that could be controlled and used. Merchant also highlights how ideas about gender influenced these changes. She shows how early modern writings about nature often used ideas about women to describe the natural world.

This important book has been translated into many languages, including Japanese, German, Italian, Chinese, and Spanish, allowing her ideas to reach people all over the world.

Carolyn Merchant's Ideas

Carolyn Merchant believes that before the 1600s, many people thought of nature as a kind and powerful mother. She says this idea slowly changed as the Scientific Revolution began. Scientists started to study nature by taking it apart and trying to understand all its secrets.

This new way of thinking led to the idea that nature could be controlled. The old idea of "Mother Earth" changed into seeing Earth as a resource to be used. This happened as science became more confident that humans could understand and change the natural world.

She points out that even famous thinkers like Francis Bacon used ideas about women to talk about controlling nature. He suggested that nature needed to be "bound into service" and made to work for humans.

These changes, along with the growth of factories and cities, moved people further away from nature. Merchant argues that these shifts in how we see nature still affect our society and how we think about the environment today.

Impact of The Death of Nature

The Death of Nature has had a big impact on how we study environmental history, philosophy, and feminism. It is considered a very important book because it connects the idea of nature being seen as "female" with how women themselves were viewed. Merchant supports her ideas with historical facts from the time of the Enlightenment.

While other thinkers like Françoise d'Eaubonne and Susan Griffin also wrote about women and ecology before her, The Death of Nature was the first to look at the history of ecology from an ecofeminist point of view. This made it a groundbreaking work in the field.

Other Books by Carolyn Merchant

Carolyn Merchant has written many other books that explore similar themes.

Ecological Revolutions

Her book Ecological Revolutions: Nature, Gender, and Science in New England (1989, 2010) looks at how the environment in New England changed as European settlers arrived. She describes how the land was transformed, first by colonial settlers and later by the growth of industries and cities.

Radical Ecology

In Radical Ecology: The Search for a Livable World (1992, 2005), Merchant argues that laws and science alone are not enough to fix environmental problems. She suggests that we need new ways of thinking about our relationship with nature to create a world where we can all live well.

Earthcare: Women and the Environment

Earthcare: Women and the Environment (1996) encourages people to rethink how Western societies have treated nature. She proposes a new way of working with the environment, where men and women cooperate to create a healthy and sustainable world.

Reinventing Eden

Reinventing Eden: The Fate of Nature in Western Culture (2003, 2013) traces the story of the Garden of Eden myth through history. Merchant suggests that we need to see nature as an active partner and work with it, balancing our needs with the needs of the natural world.

American Environmental History

American Environmental History: An Introduction (2007) helps readers understand how different groups of people have changed and protected the natural world over time in America. It looks at topics like national parks and population growth through the lens of gender, race, and social class.

Autonomous Nature

In Autonomous Nature: Problems of Prediction and Control from Ancient Times to the Scientific Revolution (2015), Merchant explores how people have viewed nature as both wild and orderly throughout history. She discusses why understanding nature's unpredictability was a challenge in the past and still is today.

Spare the Birds!

Spare the Birds! George Bird Grinnell and the First Audubon Society (2016) tells the story of George Bird Grinnell, who started the Audubon Society in 1887 to protect birds. The book highlights his efforts to save bird species that were being hunted or losing their homes.

Science and Nature: Past, Present and Future

Science and Nature: Past, Present and Future (2018) brings together many of Carolyn Merchant's ideas. It explores how science, women, nature, and history are connected and shares her vision for the future.

The Anthropocene and the Humanities

The Anthropocene and the Humanities (2020) focuses on the idea of the Anthropocene, which is sometimes called "The Age of Humanity." This idea suggests that humans have had such a big impact on Earth that we've entered a new geological age. Merchant looks at how history, art, literature, and philosophy can help us understand this age and work towards a more sustainable future.

Edited Books

Carolyn Merchant has also edited several important books, bringing together the work of other experts. These include:

• Major Problems in American Environmental History (1993, 2004, 2012), which introduces students to key writings on U.S. environmental history.
• Key Concepts in Critical Theory: Ecology (1994, 2008), a collection of essays about different ideas in ecology, including ecofeminism and environmental justice.
• Green Versus Gold: Sources in California's Environmental History (1998), which explores California's environmental past.
• Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (2004), a three-volume set co-edited with Shepherd Krech III and John McNeill, covering how humans have changed the natural world throughout history.
• After the Death of Nature: Carolyn Merchant and the Future of Human-Nature Relations (2018), a book written by other scholars to honor and build upon Carolyn Merchant's important work.

Carolyn Merchant has also written over 100 research articles. Her work continues to inspire many people interested in the environment and its history.

See also

In Spanish: Carolyn Merchant para niños

• List of ecofeminist authors
• Environmental history
• History of science