“Most young people find botany a dull study. So it is, as taught from the text-books in the schools; but study it yourself in the fields and woods, and you will find it a source of perennial delight.”

American naturalist and nature essayist

John Burroughs was an American naturalist and nature essayist. He was active in the conservation movement in the United States and is remembered for writing about the natural world. His first essay collection, Wake-Robin, appeared in 1871. Burroughs’s work helped shape American nature writing, with essays that reflect close attention to landscapes, plants, and wildlife.