Recent book-length studies of Thoreau have focused either on his place in the history of the natural sciences or have applied political principles to his works. None, however, has fully addressed what ecocritic Rebecca Solnit calls "the Thoreau problem," the compartmentalizing of Thoreau's mind into either that of a hermit of nature or that of a champion of social reform. This book proposes an interdisciplinary solution to this problem through the connection between Thoreau's ecological study of nature and his intense interest in the emerging social sciences, especially the history of...