Nature

In the essay Nature, Emerson put forth the foundation of transcendentalism, a belief system that espouses a non-traditional appreciation of natüre. Transcendentalism suggests that the divine, or God, suffuses nature, and suggests that reality can be understood by studying nature. Emerson's visit to the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris inspired a set of lectures he later delivered in Boston which were then published.