Theorists and practitioners in the burgeoning field of ecological restoration are departing from the ideal of passive, hands-off interaction with our environment in favor of active attempts to invent, design, or restore ecosystems. In Inventing Nature Matthias Gross argues-on the basis of his analysis of diverse restoration efforts in North America-that a new understanding of the relationship between human actors and nature is needed. No longer merely a laboratory for scientists, no longer sacred space to be left alone, in the context of ecological restoration physical surroundings must be understood as our partner and peer in the project of community-building. Inventing Nature offers a way past the social constructivist versus realist debate in the environmental social sciences that is both scholarly rigorous and practically engaged.