I have never heard of the romanticism era until last week.  Apparently people began moving away from learning from books and more towards learning through spending time in, and observing nature.  I don't whether or not this is the more effective way to learn.  On one hand you can learn things a lot quicker through just reading about in a book, however some things might be better learned if they're experienced first hand.  Also, nothing new would ever be discovered if people only read what other people know and never went out and made their own observations.