Equilibrium

While reading The Transcendental Railroad I was kind of thrown off. It was so surprising to me that Emerson found the idea of railroad and nature going hand in hand. The idea of the steam engine being "natural magic" is just so bizarre to me. How could someone so dedicated to the idea of nature be so convinced that a hulking piece of metal could be a natural device? I'm not saying that railroads are evil, but I would say they're far from representative of nature.
Thoreau would agree with me. He listed all the ways in which the "Iron Horse" marred its landscapes and took advantage of the resources put in front of it. There was a sense of excitement at the material level, and how many goods it would be able to transfer. But there was a yearning for the resurgence of waterways, and the maintenance of the environment the tracks ripped through.
How do we find the balance between the brilliance of man and the necessity of earth? I think that question is one we continue to struggle with. With every step forward in technology we could pay the price in nature. Like the Kindle; sure, we save paper. But what about the smell of an old book? And where do we find the materials for the plastic and metal within that device?