By Network Nature: The Place of Nature in the Digital Age

How do people avoid the stresses of the digital age? Urban dwellers must now turn to nature to recover, restore and rebalance after the stresses brought on by relentless digital connectivity. It is easy to task nature as the cure, with technology as the ailment. In Network Nature, Richard Coyne challenges the definitions of both the natural and the artificial that support this time-worn narrative of nature's benefits. In the process, he attacks the counter-claim that nature must succumb to the sovereignty of digital data. Covering a spectrum of issues and concepts, from big data and biohacking to animality, numinous spaces and the post-digital, he draws on the rich field of semiotics as applied to natural systems and human communication, to enhance our understanding of place, landscape and architecture in a digital world. Review An outstanding tour de force of the meaning, impact and applications of all things digital in the natural world. Covering aspects of philosophy, biology, geography, social science, cultural theory and the arts it is an accessible and thought-provoking read for anyone interested in place, digital technologies and nature. -- Andrew Hudson-Smith ― Professor of Digital Urban Systems, University College London About the Author Richard Coyne is Professor of Architectural Computing at the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, the University of Edinburgh, UK.