The Wisdom of Trees
A Miscellany
1st Edition
Published on 23. October 2014
288 pages
978-1-78185-545-4 (ISBN)
Description
A passionate and informative celebration of trees and of man's ingenuity in exploiting their resources: the perfect gift for anyone who cares about the natural world.
Trees are marvels of nature, still-standing giants of extraordinary longevity. In a beautifully written sequence of essays, anecdotes and profiles of Britain's best-loved species (from yew to scots pine), Max Adams explores both the amazing biology of trees and humanity's relationship with wood and forest across the centuries.
Embellished with images from John Evelyn's classic SYLVA (1664), THE WISDOM OF TREES is a gift book that will delight anyone who cares about the natural world and our interaction with it.
Trees are marvels of nature, still-standing giants of extraordinary longevity. In a beautifully written sequence of essays, anecdotes and profiles of Britain's best-loved species (from yew to scots pine), Max Adams explores both the amazing biology of trees and humanity's relationship with wood and forest across the centuries.
Embellished with images from John Evelyn's classic SYLVA (1664), THE WISDOM OF TREES is a gift book that will delight anyone who cares about the natural world and our interaction with it.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
50 b&w illus
ISBN-13
978-1-78185-545-4 (9781781855454)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2014
Head of Zeus
€38.59
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Person
Max Adams is the author of Admiral Collingwood, The Prometheans, the bestselling The King in the North and In the Land of Giants. He has lived and worked in the North-East of England since 1993.
Content
- Intro
- Welcome Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Prologue: The wisdom of trees
- Chapter 1: Thinking about trees
- Enlightenment
- Autumn
- Brown and sticky
- Trees of liberty
- Foresight
- Tree tale The Birch
- Chapter 2: Ingenious trees
- What trees do
- Trees with latitude
- Solar panels
- Family tree
- Tree tale The Rowan
- Chapter 3: Offspring
- Sex before insects
- Spring
- Making babies
- Pioneers
- Massive oak
- The human hand
- Tree tale The Apple
- Chapter 4: Trees at war
- This means war
- Conventional weapons
- Plan B
- Battle of the trees
- The wood of life
- Tree tale The Yew
- Chapter 5: Trees in company
- A palette of forests
- Life in the woods
- Saint Columba's coppice
- The rarest tree
- Woodwards and Pallisters
- Tree tale The Scots pine
- Chapter 6: Innovation
- Useful lessons
- Getting the point
- Terraforming Ascension Island
- The luthier
- Tree tale The Hazel
- Chapter 7: The Wood Age
- Axe, adze and wedge
- Summer
- The first carpenters
- Stonehenge decoded?
- The Nobel Prize-winning woodworker
- Tree tale The Beech
- Chapter 8: Engineers
- Hormones
- Machines
- Hydraulics
- Bodgers
- How high can a tree be?
- Standing up straight
- Tree tale Hawthorn
- Chapter 9: The Charcoal Age
- Material gain
- Making charcoal
- The sword in the stone
- Seahenge
- Riddley Walker
- Colemen and Colliers
- Tree tale The Holly
- Chapter 10: Architects
- Size matters
- The first house
- Houses for the dead
- Firewood
- At home with Saint Columba
- Tree tale The Oak
- Chapter 11: Tree pasts
- How old is it?
- Trees of Middle-earth
- Chesapeake
- End of the age
- How to spot an ancient wood
- Tree tale The Elm
- Chapter 12: Tree futures
- Heroes
- A few words on paper
- How to buy a woodland
- Forest gardens
- Ashington
- Winter
- Tree tale The Ash
- Epilogue: Woodlanders
- Preview
- Glossary
- Acknowledgements
- Index
- About this Book
- Reviews
- About the Author
- Also by this Author
- An Invitation from the Publisher
- Copyright
