<p>Just as there is love at first sight between people, Václav Cílek writes, there can be love at first sight between a person and a place. A landscape is more than a location, it is one party in a relationship—whether or not the spirit of a certain setting is perceptible to those who visit. But whether we travel to experience rapture or excitement, to discover truth and beauty or to be dazzled, we search for the essence of faraway landscapes to gain perspective on our own places within the world.<i>To Breathe with Birds</i> delves into the imaginative and emotional bonds we form with landscapes and how human existence—a recent development, geologically speaking—shapes and is shaped by a sense of place.</p><p>In subtle and lyrical prose, renowned geologist and author Václav Cílek explores topics from the history of asphalt to the spirits we imagine in trees and from geodiversity to the mathematics of snowflakes. Weaving earth science and environmentalism together with memoir and myth, the chapters visit resonant locations from India to Massachusetts, though most are deeply rooted in the river-laced, war-scarred Czech landscape. These reflections are accompanied by evocative photographs by Morna Livingston, which capture the beauty and strangeness of natural and human-made landscapes. The first book-length appearance of Cílek's work in English translation,<i>To Breathe with Birds</i> offers insightful perspectives on the symbolism of landscapes as we struggle to conserve and protect the depleted earth.</p>