Naturalist Book Group: On Trails - An Exploration

On Trails: An Exploration by Author Robert Moor

On Trails. Robert Moor’s prize-winning book considers the idea of trails in the widest possible context — from fossil trails left by the earliest known form of animal life to the twentieth-century development of and yearning for long trails, focusing on the Appalachian.  His analysis of how living creatures — from primitive organisms to homo sapiens  — all make and use trails will deepen readers' understanding of and appreciation for their favorite hiking trails.

"While thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, Robert Moor began to wonder about the paths that lie beneath our feet: How do they form? Why do some improve over time while others fade? What makes us follow or strike off on our own? Over the course of seven years, Moor traveled the globe, exploring trails of all kinds, from the minuscule to the massive. He learned the tricks of master trail-builders, hunted down long-lost Cherokee trails, and traced the origins of our road networks and the Internet. In each chapter, Moor interweaves his adventures with findings from science, history, philosophy, and nature writing. Throughout, Moor reveals how this single topic—the oft-overlooked trail—sheds new light on a wealth of age-old questions: How does order emerge out of chaos? How did animals first crawl forth from the seas and spread across continents? How has humanity’s relationship with nature and technology shaped the world around us? And, ultimately, how does each of us pick a path through life?"