Natural Wonder: A Broadside Portfolio (Vol. 3 No. 9)

The natural world abounds in wonder. For every discovery we make, every cutting-edge piece of technology we create, Mother Nature seems to have an answer so far surpassing our own as to render our efforts nearly obsolete. From the startling frequency of the Fibonacci sequence to the engineering feats of the simple gecko, scientists and mathematicians, it seems, are forever chasing the compound miracles and oddities of nature. Perhaps it is for this reason that Cicero claimed, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” We set ourselves apart from the animal kingdom not only by our so-called domination of nature, but by our insatiable curiosity as well. In the garden, as in the book, we are reminded of our place in the world, of how it all fits together, and of the simple pleasures and miracles we so often take for granted. In this spirit of appreciation, of stopping to smell the roses, we present this broadside portfolio—an ode to natural wonder.