Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. The Languages of Nature: An Overview -- 1. Botany's Beautiful Arrangement: Almira Phelps and Enlightenment Science -- 2. The Pressure of Hidden Causes: Margaret Fuller and Romantic Science -- 3. The Noble Designs of Nature: Susan Fenimore Cooper, Natural Science, and the Picturesque Aesthetic -- 4. Spiders, Ants, and Carnivorous Plants: Mary Treat and Evolutionary Science -- Epilogue. Human Homes in Nature's Household: The Emergence of a Conservation Ethic -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.