Understanding The Eskimo Science Richard Nelson Summary

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Richard Nelson highly praises the Eskimo for their knowledge and adaptation. They are known to be living in the harshest environment, yet they brilliantly adjust their lifestyle to survive it. Nelson describes many events he has encountered during his time in Alaska to demonstrate how deeply the Eskimos are bonded with the nature. His main argument is simply stating their interaction with nature and an affinity with the non-human life. He wants to use the relationship between Koyukon Indians and the nature to show what we once had that was forgotten and ignored. Unlike us, the Eskimos are very observant of their environment, something that we are lacking of. They observed, learned, and adapted in order to survive with very scared resources. Their knowledge is tested and widely accepted and shared among their own community, thus the title “Understanding the Eskimo Science” is best appropriate for the article. In science, one must observe and carry out an experiment to test their theories. Once it was proven to be true, the theories are shared and must be accepted by the other scientists as well. That is one of a very few things we have in common with the Eskimos …show more content…

Nelson, however, points the fact that the natural world are deeply embedded into the Eskimo lives. They are unable to grab the true concept of biophilia. In order for them to embrace the meaning, he suggests, they will have to isolate themselves from the nature. To the outsiders, there is no doubt the term is rooted within their culture. It is in every aspect of their lives that it becomes impossible to disassociate themselves from it. So, how would they understand the meaning of biophilia when they have never been without

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