Reading report—A Sand County Almanac

陳志航

Abstract：A Sand County Almanac，a work about relationship between man and nature，was written by Aldo Leopold. Leopold is a famous American biologist and pioneer of environmentalism.in his book， he showed his beautiful and natural senery in his farm through his sincere and exquisite depiction along with concise refined wording.He also told us his experiences when he travelled in American lands.In the end he put forward his key theory—Land ethics.By reading between the lines，we can find his respect and favor for the nature.meanwhile，we can feel his sorrow for peoples ravaging of the land，this book is a classic work integrating， literature，environmental protection and philosophy.It is praised as the beginning of land ethics and the green bible of human environmental protection.

Key words： Aldo Leopold nature itself community and land ethics

About the author

Leopold was considered the father of wildlife ecology.He was a renowned scientist， philosopher and gifted writer. In 1935， Leopold purchased a worn-out farm near Baraboo，Where he as well as his family began to work on this land to restore its ecological integrity. They planted thousands of trees，save the endangered plants and studied the animals.Gradually， the land was enriched and got healthy again. Leopold loved this farm deeply. It is here Leopold put into action his beliefs that the same tools people used to disrupt the landscape could also be used to rebuild it.and it was here Leopold cisualized many of essays of what was to become his most influential work， A Sand County Almanac.

Every time I read the book，I was so moved by Leopolds encouragement.He was brave enough to give up the comfortable modern life and live in the deep forest.Leopold lived on the farm of sand county sincerely，fishing and hunting there.He Seriously observed all the things about nature that happen around him. He truly experienced what life gave him.And just because of this real life.，he got the importance of the nature，and this is the basic of his theories.

Nature itself

A Sand County Almanac is an essay for the philosophical anthology，the crystallization of Leopolds observations，experiences，and thoughts through his life.Written with an unparalleled understanding of the ways of nature， the book includes a section on the monthly changes of the Wisconsin countryside.In this part，the auther told us a lot of stories about nature spirits，vivid， The track of animals in the thaw， the history of oak rings， the long sounds of geese migrating….Animals here led free lives in their own style. The author described his observation of nature with his own perspective and elegant brushstrokes. In these words， every word is filled with peace and joy.Of course Nature also has plots and kills.So it is dangerous for muskrat to meet with rough-legged hawk.”A rough-legged hawk comes sailing over the meadow ahead.Now he stops，hovers like a kingfisher，and then drops like a feathered bomb into the marsh.He does not rise again，so I am sure he has caught，and is now eating，some worried mouse-engineer who could not wait until night to inspect the damage to his well-ordered world.”From this picture，we didnt see Fierce fighting scenes and didnt smell blood，On the countrary， he said with a sense of humor “ Be sure not to be careless about safety while enjoying the joy of spring”.Obviously，nature has its own rules，we should just obey and observe nature itself， it is important for human to respect the nature what it is.

Land ethics and community

We are connected to the world around us through the food we eat and the resources we use. Land is not merely soil； it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils，plants，and animals. So how to treat or protect the land properly is always a serious problem.Leopold encouraged people to expand their vision of the world around them to include the natural world in their community as they would their neighoors.When people begin to look at plants，animals，soils and water in that context.they may consider them in a different way. Putting forward land ethic and the concept of the community can be a rational point of view to explain the concept of natural protection of further.He said：”It is inconceivable to me that an ethical relation to land can exist without love，respect，and admiration for land，and a high regard for its value.By value，I of course mean something far brosder than mere economic value；I mean value in the philosophical sense.” People usually show respect to every member of the community from the conquerors role to an equal member of citizens.the farmers wont ignore the community benefit at the same time caring about their own interests. Putting the land as whole in the concept of community is convenient for people to protect nature rationally.

Sand County Almanac was written in 1949，when America was experiencing post-war economic recovery. Leopold began to realize the crisis of protection of nature at that time. And now in our country，agriculture and industry were developing rapidly. Environment protection and land problem are still serious problems.So reading Sand County Almanac is really meaningful.