Boston Flora

Tag: Robert Thorson

  • Monday, May 21, 7:00 pm – The Guide to Walden Pond: An Exploration of the History, Nature, Landscape and Literature of One of America’s Most Iconic Places

    Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, welcomes Robert Thorson, author of The Guide To Walden Pond: An Exploration of the History, Nature, Landscape and Literature of One of America’s Most Iconic Places on Monday, May 21 at 7 pm for a talk and book signing. This is the first guidebook to Henry David Thoreau’s most defining place, visited by half a million people each year and widely known as the fountainhead of America’s environmental consciousness.

    Using this guide, both armchair readers and trail-walkers alike can amble around the pond’s shoreline, pausing at fifteen special places to learn about people, historic events, and the natural world. Thoreau will be a constant companion via quotes from Walden. Stop by stop, the place of his book will merge with the book of his place.

    Abundantly illustrated with photographs, drawings, and maps, this guide is a must-have for a meaningful, engaging tour of Walden Pond as well as a souvenir of a visit. For more information visit https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/robert-thorson-guide-walden-pond

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  • Friday, November 17, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Boatman: Thoreau on the Water

    Robert Thorson, PhD, Professor of Geology, University of Connecticut, and Columnist, Hartford Courant, will speak at the Arnold Arboretum on Friday, November 17, 7:00–8:30 pm in the Hunnewell Building.

    Henry David Thoreau was a boatman, more than he was a woodsman: a lifelong river rat whose sense of place emerged from boating, walking, and skating the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord Rivers. As a backyard naturalist and river enthusiast, Henry David Thoreau was keenly aware of the way humans had altered the waterways and meadows of his beloved Concord River Valley. And he recognized that he himself—a land surveyor by trade—was as complicit in these transformations as the bankers, lawyers, builders, landowners, and elected officials who were his clients. Robert Thorson shares a compelling story of Thoreau’s intellectual growth and scientific understanding of the changes made to the river he cherished more than Walden Pond. Robert Thorson’s book, The Boatman: Henry David Thoreau’s River Years, will be available for purchase and signing. Fee Free, but registration required. Offered in collaboration with JP Reads. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Saturday, February 1, 2:00 pm – Discovering Thoreau the Geologist

    Henry David Thoreau’s contributions to botany are well documented. Far less known was his passion for the physical sciences, especially geology. Robert Thorson’s new book, Walden’s Shore, is the first-ever book to focus on Thoreau the geoscientist, from his studies of local rocks and minerals to his interpretation of how Walden Pond and the Concord landscape were created.  Dr. Thorson, Professor of Geology at University of Connecticut will speak on Discovering Thoreau the Geologist at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, Oxford Street, Cambridge, on Saturday, February 1, at 2 pm, and will sign copies of his book.

    Regular museum admission rates apply. Free event parking in the 52 Oxford Street Garage.  For more information visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

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