A frontispiece of the Opinion category, whose guiding light is Michel de Montaigne (1533 / 1592), acute observer of human nature, our contemporary at a distance who continues his conversation with us. (Thomas de Leu print for the 1608 edition of the Essais)
An epigraph for the Natural History section:
To him who in the love of Nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings, with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness, ere he is aware.
First lines of Thanatopsis
William Cullen Bryant (1794 / 1878)
Three sources of inspiration and tutelary minds for this web site – a philosopher, an artist, and a scientist – are:
Epicurus of Samos (-341 / -270), most humane of philosophers, a guide on how to enquire “the nature of things” and on how to lead life. (Marble double bust of Epicurus and Metrodorus: Musee du Louvre)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 / 1519), the ultimate Renaissance man, whose mind, notable for the most passionate curiosity, has never been equaled. (Portrait by Francesco Melzi, Royal Library, Windsor)
Charles Darwin (1809 / 1882), . (1868 photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron: copyright Victoria and Albert Museum).