The Biophilia Effect

Download or read book The Biophilia Effect written by Clemens Arvay, MSc and published by Sounds True. This book was released on 2018-02-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did you know that spending time in a forest activates the vagus nerve, which is responsible for inducing calm and regeneration? Or that spending just one single day in a wooded area increases the number of natural killer cells in the blood by almost 40 percent on average? We’ve all had an intuitive sense of the healing power of nature. Clemens G. Arvay’s new book brings us the science to verify this power, sharing fascinating research along with teachings and tools for accessing the therapeutic properties of the forest and natural world. Already a bestseller in Germany, The Biophilia Effect is a book that transforms our understanding of our interconnection with nature—and shows us how to engage the natural world wherever we live for greater health, inspiration, rejuvenation, and spiritual sustenance.

Download or read book The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative written by Florence Williams and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Highly informative and remarkably entertaining." —Elle From forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, to eucalyptus groves in California, Florence Williams investigates the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. Delving into brand-new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.

Download or read book The Biophilia Hypothesis written by Stephen R. Kellert and published by Island Press. This book was released on 1995-03-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Biophilia" is the term coined by Edward O. Wilson to describe what he believes is humanity's innate affinity for the natural world. In his landmark book Biophilia, he examined how our tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes might be a biologically based need, integral to our development as individuals and as a species. That idea has caught the imagination of diverse thinkers. The Biophilia Hypothesis brings together the views of some of the most creative scientists of our time, each attempting to amplify and refine the concept of biophilia. The variety of perspectives -- psychological, biological, cultural, symbolic, and aesthetic -- frame the theoretical issues by presenting empirical evidence that supports or refutes the hypothesis. Numerous examples illustrate the idea that biophilia and its converse, biophobia, have a genetic component: fear, and even full-blown phobias of snakes and spiders are quick to develop with very little negative reinforcement, while more threatening modern artifacts -- knives, guns, automobiles -- rarely elicit such a response people find trees that are climbable and have a broad, umbrella-like canopy more attractive than trees without these characteristics people would rather look at water, green vegetation, or flowers than built structures of glass and concrete The biophilia hypothesis, if substantiated, provides a powerful argument for the conservation of biological diversity. More important, it implies serious consequences for our well-being as society becomes further estranged from the natural world. Relentless environmental destruction could have a significant impact on our quality of life, not just materially but psychologically and even spiritually.

Download or read book Biophilic Design written by Stephen R. Kellert and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-09-26 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "When nature inspires our architecture-not just how it looks but how buildings and communities actually function-we will have made great strides as a society. Biophilic Design provides us with tremendous insight into the 'why,' then builds us a road map for what is sure to be the next great design journey of our times." -Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chairman, U.S. Green Building Council "Having seen firsthand in my company the power of biomimicry to stimulate a wellspring of profitable innovation, I can say unequivocably that biophilic design is the real deal. Kellert, Heerwagen, and Mador have compiled the wisdom of world-renowned experts to produce this exquisite book; it is must reading for scientists, philosophers, engineers, architects and designers, and-most especially-businesspeople. Anyone looking for the key to a new type of prosperity that respects the earth should start here." -Ray C. Anderson, founder and Chair, Interface, Inc. The groundbreaking guide to the emerging practice of biophilic design This book offers a paradigm shift in how we design and build our buildings and our communities, one that recognizes that the positive experience of natural systems and processes in our buildings and constructed landscapes is critical to human health, performance, and well-being. Biophilic design is about humanity's place in nature and the natural world's place in human society, where mutuality, respect, and enriching relationships can and should exist at all levels and should emerge as the norm rather than the exception. Written for architects, landscape architects, planners,developers, environmental designers, as well as building owners, Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science, and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life is a guide to the theory, science, and practice of biophilic design. Twenty-three original and timely essays by world-renowned scientists, designers, and practitioners, including Edward O. Wilson, Howard Frumkin, David Orr, Grant Hildebrand, Stephen Kieran, Tim Beatley, Jonathan Rose, Janine Benyus, Roger Ulrich, Bert Gregory, Robert Berkebile, William Browning, and Vivian Loftness, among others, address: * The basic concepts of biophilia, its expression in the built environment, and how biophilic design connects to human biology, evolution, and development. * The science and benefits of biophilic design on human health, childhood development, healthcare, and more. * The practice of biophilic design-how to implement biophilic design strategies to create buildings that connect people with nature and provide comfortable and productive places for people, in which they can live, work, and study. Biophilic design at any scale-from buildings to cities-begins with a few simple questions: How does the built environment affect the natural environment? How will nature affect human experience and aspiration? Most of all, how can we achieve sustained and reciprocal benefits between the two? This prescient, groundbreaking book provides the answers.

Download or read book Biophilia written by Edward O. WILSON and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biophilia is Edward O. Wilson's most personal book, an evocation of his own response to nature and an eloquent statement of the conservation ethic. Wilson argues that our natural affinity for life—biophilia—is the very essence of our humanity and binds us to all other living species.

Download or read book Biophilia written by Sally Coulthard and published by Kyle Books. This book was released on 2020-03-19 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this beautifully illustrated guide, best-selling author Sally Coulthard demonstrates how to transform your living and working spaces into places that put you in touch with nature. Eight inspiring chapters cover key elements for the 'biophilic home', including materials, views, colour and natural light. Each section explores the links between home, health and happiness, drawing on environmental research and neuroscience while making practical suggestions for bringing the natural world into your home. Bring nature indoors with flowers and plants, rediscover the innate pleasure of real fires and fresh air, and learn how to improve your mood and sleep patterns with dynamic light. Create a space filled with natural elements, patterns, nature's colours, fabrics and textures that lift your mood; find out why natural sounds and water are soothing; and learn how to make small changes that will inspire, invigorate and enrich your relationship with the natural world. 'As best-selling author and designer, Sally Coulthard, reveals in this guide, creating a 'biophilic home' can have a huge impact on your wellbeing; improving your mood and encouraging healthier sleep patterns...Be it plants, materials, colour or light, it's enlightening to see how small changes can make a big difference, while deepening your respect and correlation to the natural world.' FORBES Magazine 'How to embrace the natural world by transforming your interior spaces with specific materials, colours, views and sounds.' Gardens Illustrated 'Humans are mammals, programmed over millennia to respond to the natural world. We may be able to live and work in man-made environments most of the time. But according to a new movement of "biophilic" designers and enthusiasts, we are not thriving...writer Sally Coulthard likens it to the practice of keeping animals in captivity, in surroundings ill-suited to their needs. "We live in a world that is fundamentally mismatched to our evolutionary adaptation - we don't see, hear and feel the things that we are programmed to respond to," she writes.' Financial Times

Download or read book Kinship to Mastery written by Stephen R. Kellert and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2003-10 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kinship to Mastery is a fascinating and accessible exploration of the notion of biophilia -- the idea that humans, having evolved with the rest of creation, possess a biologically based attraction to nature and exhibit an innate affinity for life and lifelike processes. Stephen R. Kellert sets forth the idea that people exhibit different expressions of biophilia in different contexts, and demonstrates how our quality of life in the largest sense is dependent upon the richness of our connections with nature. While the natural world provides us with material necessities -- food, clothing, medicine, clean air, pure water -- it just as importantly plays a key role in other aspects of our lives, including intellectual capacity, emotional bonding, aesthetic attraction, creativity, imagination, and even the recognition of a just and purposeful existence. As Kellert explains, each expression of biophilia shows how our physical, material, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual well-being is to a great extent dependent on our relationships with the natural world that surrounds us. Kinship to Mastery is a thought-provoking examination of a concept that, while not widely known, has a significant and direct effect on the lives of people everywhere. Because the full expression of biophilia is integral to our overall health, our ongoing destruction of the environment could have far more serious consequences than many people think. In a readable and compelling style, Kellert describes and explains the concept of biophilia, and demonstrates to a general audience the wide-ranging implications of environmental degradation. Kinship to Mastery continues the exploration of biophilia begun with Edward O. Wilson's landmark book Biophilia (Harvard University Press, 1984) and followed by The Biophilia Hypothesis (Island Press, 1993), co-edited by Wilson and Kellert, which brought together some of the most creative scientists of our time to explore Wilson's theory in depth.