As an environmental historian and scholar of the 19th century, Aaron Sachs, professor of history, spends a lot of time thinking about how the past can help us confront current crises—especially climate change. In an op-ed in Salon, Sachs writes that he finds a lot of guidance in the 1800s, from the appreciation of wildness in “Walden” to the notebooks of Charles Darwin.
“But my nomination for the most helpful climate manual ever written might be a surprise: Moby-Dick,” Sachs writes in the piece. “What makes “Moby-Dick” especially relevant right now is that it offers a spur to solidarity and perseverance.”
Simon Wheeler for Cornell University
Cornell’s 2025 Bouchet Society inductees. Back row (left to right): Don Long, Andrea Robinson, Salma Rebhi and her son, Zhuang Han, and Aspen Omapang. Front row (left to right): Jamila Walida Simon, Marguerite Pacheco, Libby Indermaur, and Belen Sotomayor