Earlier this week I started looking into "biophilia," the love of life (nature). There's a great book I found for my research called The Biophilia Hypothesis (1995), which is a collection of essays attempting to prove the "biophilia hypothesis," a theory developed by Edward O. Wilson claiming that humans have an innate love of nature or attraction to nature that may be a result of our biology. The Biophilia Hypothesis was actually a response to Wilson's Biophilia (1986), a memoir exploring humanity's connection with nature and conservation ethics. Although both books focus mostly on animals, I thought it would be a good source, because it connects the focus of my research project with the bigger picture of peoples interactions with the greater natural world.
Sensory gardens, and the effects of these gardens on our well-being are, in a way, more concentrated microcosms reflecting the same kind of relationship between humans and nature as described in Biophilia and The Biophilia Hypothesis. And although these are just theories, they provide a good jumping-off point for further research into how nature affects people.
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