These essays take a well earned place with all such human reflection and conjecture, from Lucretius to Thoreau and onward. The context Dana Wilde develops is crucial -- in the sense the poet William Carlos Williams made so clear: "A new world is only a new mind..." Humanly one has to conceptualize, thus make familiar, whatever it is that apparent " scientific knowledge" has proposed. I recall hearing a scientist of active repute say once that the technical feasibility of some procedure was clearly established but for the world to recognize and make use of it would take a very long time indeed. People could not realize, or "think," the phenomena it was fact of. Bridging between these two patterns of human "world" as this work does is therefore both intriguing and, practically, very useful. So that's the "shelf" I'd think to put this collection of essays on, the conceptual bridging we need even to leave the house, much less the earth. Dana Wilde writes with relaxed skill and quietly resourceful information, thus bringing the reader into active senses of a world which might otherwise intimidate. -- Robert Creeley, August 2000 * * * Dear Dana, Here's hoping it does some good! And that your remove to the Far East has gone smoothly!! Onward... Best as ever, Bob

A Fires of the Sun Testimonial