The Truly Great People of Nature
This one goes out to all the Great People of Nature — capital letters.
Because they deserve it.
Specifically, all the people who’ve helped protect & further the appreciation of nature among the general population.
Humans and nature have had their conflicts over time, so it’s important to recognize the greats.
Without these people, the Earth might not be quite the same as it is today.
John Muir
We’re starting off with John Muir, Mr. Nature himself. An incredibly interesting man.
Muir was actually born in Scotland in 1838 — moved to Wisconsin when he was 11.
It’s noted that he always had an appreciation for nature, making it a point to get outside and run around the fields whenever he could.
However, upon getting a bit older, he really started to get into the outdoors and see the world.
He walked from Indiana to Florida just to see what was going on in between.
Sailed to Cuba.
Then to Panama.
Then to Cali, which is where he eventually took up residence. The man fell in love with the Sierra Nevada mountains, and who could blame him?
Muir had such a deep appreciation for nature that he hatched up a scheme you may have heard of to preserve some of it — the “National Park System.”
After camping with Teddy Roosevelt in the above shown Yosemite National Park, they were able to devise the foundation for this system and designate areas to be protected from human encroachment.
It was a good move — some places are too beautiful to be altered. Muir remains one of history’s great naturalists for this reason, and sets the tone for this list.
Steve Irwin
Stevie boy is a favorite for many of the people in the audience, myself included. Shared nature with a generation.
Known for Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin was a phenomena on TV — showcasing creatures most have never seen in real life before.
Creatures with killer fangs.
Some of the deadliest hunters of the natural world.
And he would…..
WRESTLE them???????
Steve was a freak in the greatest way possible, and he would bring that contagious enthusiasm with him every single episode and live appearance.
He inspired a generation to get out there and see Earth’s most amazing creatures.
Steve was also a huge proponent of promoting environmentalism via his enthusiasm for the natural world.
Rather than coming at people’s necks on Twitter like PETA.
I’m a firm believer that this is the way to go about it — if you get people excited about nature — to truly love it — then they’ll go to extreme lengths to protect it.
Convincing people of anything is about getting them motivated to do it themselves, and Steve was a role model when it came to promoting the wild, wild world around him.
As I’m sure you already know, Steve died in an incident with a stingray in 2006.
RIP
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin is another man many are aware of — and many are probably jealous of as well.
Darwin was a naturalist as well as a biologist, and is known for his theory of evolution, which we still hold to be true today.
Of course, many are likely jealous because of all the cool shit he saw while in the Galapagos Islands.
Darwin is famous for his writings on nature & evolution.
Upon visiting the Galapagos Islands, Darwin observed the strange yet familiar nature of creatures there, and concluded that at some point they must have somehow…diverged from the creatures on the mainland.
He hypothesized that due to different environmental conditions on the islands, different characteristics of creatures would be rewarded.
Individuals of a species with traits not conducive to a fruitful life on the islands would, over time, be outcompeted.
Individuals with specific traits that acted to their benefit on the island would survive, reproduce, and outcompete.
Over incredibly long periods of time, these differences would become remarkably large.
This led Darwin to theorize that every creature out there must have “evolved” to best fit the environment around them.
Of course, it took him many years to properly formulate his thoughts back in England, but in 1859, he published “On the Origin of Species,” the book for which he is known today.
An interesting guy, and one who inalterably changed the way we think about the world around us.
David Attenborough
Ah, yes.
The voice we associate with every rare species and exotic biome present on the face of the Earth.
David Attenborough is the narrator of Life, Planet Earth, and a number of other documentaries on nature published throughout the years.
As you’re probably already aware if you’re under a certain age and alive today, he is the iconic man whose voice has been on all of our TV screens while we sit around late at night on Tuesdays in our college dorm rooms.
In all seriousness, Attenborough brought life to and shed light on some of the most incredible ecosystems across the world.
Deserts.
Oceans.
Jungles.
The Savannah.
The Tundra, and the Arctic.
The list goes as long as the number of environments on Earth.
While it can relatively easily be argued that Attenborough has done less for nature than Darwin or Muir, he is responsible for making nature accessable to generations today.
Much life Steve Irwin, although from a greater distance.
Attenborough explored all the unique interactions of plants and animals across the world.
How they hunt, how they are hunted, how they take cover, how they move around at night, and anything else they might do.
If you somehow haven’t seen one of his shows, put down the article and put Life on TV.
And don’t forget to thank me later.
Jane Goodall
First woman on this list, and for good reason. She lived arguably the most interesting life of any of them.
Jane Goodall studied primates.
Not in a library.
Not in a lab.
But in the actual jungle. With the primates.
Literally, living with the primates.
Goodall was fascinated with animals since a young age, and took an opportunity to go work in Africa as a secretary in her 20s.
She ended up studying groups of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, and observed chimps to exhibit unique personalities and characteristics, completely at odds with science of the day.
She is responsible for the discovery that chimps, as well as humans, had the ability to shape the world around them into tools.
This was observed firsthand, as chimps would break twigs off of trees and insert them into termite holes, effectively “fishing” for termites.
Up until this discovery, it was thought that humans were the only creature on the planet capable of utilizing tools in this manner.
She also discovered the complex levels at which chimp societies operate socially, including how family dynamics work and how leaders are selected — and even the dark side of chimpanzee nature, including how tribes could and would declare war on each other and even cannibalize each other at times.
Much like humans, they are a complex species.
Overall, Goodall contributed immensely to our understanding of the next closest animal to us through her remarkable work. Cool stuff.
Funnily enough, and not intentionally, the 5 people on this list are from or can be traced back to the UK, with Steve Irwin’s parents being of English & Irish decent even though he was Australian.
If you love it, follow on here, on IG @theregrowthproject, and subscribe. I love you more than these great men and women love nature.
