"Bat" is an etching made in 1959 while Cornell was in his final months at Amherst College or the summer thereafter. Just before "Bat" was made, Cornell produced a fine arts book, "The Monkey," which depicted etchings of primates. Both "Bat" and "The Monkey" etchings came from Cornell's passion to see nature closely. The idea of learning about the natural world and its complexities was important to Cornell. He believed from the start that art was not just decorative. Cornell’s art, what he thought crucial for our time, was humankind’s dependency on nature, our need to care for it, and each other. He used art to inspire an emotional response to nature’s beauty and to confirm the environment as essential to a flourishing society. He said: "Valuing protection of the environment is crucial for the preservation of being. If the environmental crisis is a fact or is soon to be a fact, then it is sensible to change our values and behavior accordingly — a healthy environment ought to be a birthright of all people. We now live, therefore, under the obligation to value nature over all."