About book The Tree: A Natural History Of What Trees Are, How They Live & Why They Matter (2006)
Colin Tudge attracted my attention for having written several books about diverse subjects I am fascinated by, not the least of which is trees. In 'The Tree,' Tudge lives up to that promise, proving himself a very likable man who thinks about the world in many ways similarly to the way I do. This is in general a boon, but can be a downfall. The book has no real goal, no thesis, no object. It is a well-organized series of writings about the trees of the world, including explanations of many facets of what it means to be a tree, portraits of individual trees, and a broad survey of all the tree phyla in the modern world. This middle section seems to have been largely a mistake. The rest of the book proceeds in narrative form through a number of very interesting aspects of the ecology, physiology, evolution, and human relevance of trees. The phylogeny, however, stifles the narrative voice and forces boring listing. I didn't read it, suffice it to say, so I perhaps shouldn't knock it too much. But it reminded me in format much of The Kingdom Fungi, which fell prey to the same impulse. The impulse is noble and I share it: rather than discuss the variety of trees in the world in a series of random groupings, it should be done phylogenetically, to emphasize the relationships among trees. And if you're going about it phylogenetically, you might as well include all the major phyla of trees . . . But how can you provide anything very interesting about all of them, and present all this knowledge in a meaningful way? The answer seems to be that you can't, really. This kind of knowledge, broad but particular, of the whole group of things we call "trees," must be earned through a lifetime of observation, a lifetime of meeting trees. It can't be condensed and transferred in even 150 pages. And it most certainly can't be done without pictures! This is perhaps what killed the middle of the book - there are no pictures to give the reader a taste of the phyla described. The rest of the book, which I read entirely, was great, as I've said. Tudge includes a lot of details, but condenses them into a form that is intuitive and dense with information without becoming slow to read. Much that could have been included was left out - a more in-depth look at the relationship between trees and humans in history, a la A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization, or more detailed coverage of tree ecology, focusing on things like mycorrhizae, or more adequate coverage of tree physiology, including some nice diagrams, like Botany for Gardeners. I could think of dozens of others. The book is very long and quite valuable as it is, but such topics would have better suited Tudge's style (and, I think, the style of books other than field guides and coffee table books in general) than what he chose to do in the middle section of the book.I very much appreciate the fact that Tudge chose to close the book with a serious look at the relationship between the social structure of our civilization and the ecological health of the planet, principally seen, in this, from the point of view of trees. While the fact that the treatment of the issue is necessarily superficial, it acknowledges there is a very big problem in the world of trees, and that it is rooted in economics and culture. Tudge emphasizes, quite astutely, that if that problem can be 'solved,' then many other problems will be solved along with it - exploitation of workers, the indigenous, and poor nations; the food issue; the energy issue; the decline of coherent local communities; etc. It would have been easy for Tudge (or his editors) to say 'let this be a happy book about trees; don't bring up all those controversial bad things - save that for another book.' That he did not indicates some extra goodness in his soil [typo?].
This is a fairly comprehensive overview of the trees of the world and trees in the world. It is divided into four sections.The first is a general introduction to trees, including some quick schooling on the biology and evolution of trees.The second section is a whirlwind -- but still fairly lengthy -- tour of the all the plant families that contain trees. While all families are covered, the focus on specific trees within those families. Tudge's choices here are idiosyncratic, and we are treated to fascinating facts and various personal encounters with the trees in question. There is also a very strong emphasis on the recent changes in taxonomy and systematics.The third section -- any my personal favourite -- focuses on how trees are adapted to their natural environment. The stand out chapter of this section discussed the relation ship between fig trees, wasps and nematodes. It is used to demonstrate the complexity of trees' relationships with other organsims, but it would stand very well on it's own. In fact, if you find yourself getting a bit overwhelmed by the long list of trees in section two, I'd recommend that you skip to this section before you put down the book.The forth section examines the relationship between trees and one organism in particular: human beings. This section feels very much like Tudge's earlier book So Shall We Reap. The arguments -- that our use of natural resouces needs to be more balanced -- are the same. In this case those arguments are applied to forestry rather than agriculture. The section -- and the book -- ends with a review of the global warming, emphasising how important trees are in efforts to counter climate change.
Do You like book The Tree: A Natural History Of What Trees Are, How They Live & Why They Matter (2006)?
Who doesn't like trees? Despite that popularity, it is easy to have a rather lopsided understanding of why they matter. Global warming is constantly in the news, so it is commonly known that trees sequester carbon, and so have a beneficial cooling effect on the earth. We know that the roots of trees hold soil in place, and that trees can absorb an enormous quantity of water. So they have a moderating effect on variations of weather. But how many people can identify all the trees found in a local park?That's a big change from the past, when so many trades involved trees and their by-products that lots of people could identify many species and describe their best uses. Colin Tudge's book describes many uses of individual species of trees, and also explains their biology and natural history, their cultivation and their cultural significance. Along the way we get an armchair tour through anatomy, genetics, taxonomy, ecology, forestry practices, economy and nearly everything else having to do with trees. He answers some questions that some people may not have thought to ask. For example, why are there relatively few species of trees in a northern forest, especially when compared to the variation found in the tropics? (Greater tropical variation in species happens in all other kingdoms, too.) But while you may not ask it in that form, you may have looked at a piece of furniture at Ikea and wondered what on earth it was made of, assuming not of plastic. There are more kinds of trees than most of us can possibly imagine, and now they're all being used for one thing or another. The products are shipped all over the place.The book is organized into four sections, although the fourth is really an epilogue. The first describes what separates trees from other plants-so taxonomy-and their physiology and evolution. The second section is a one-hundred-forty-page-tour- de-force description of all the trees left in the world, divided up by their taxonomies. In the third section, Tudge describe ecology and reproduction, including the many ways that people have inadvertently or purposefully screwed that up for trees, usually by transporting competitors or pests into an ecological system. In the fourth section, Tudge demonstrates two things: first, that trees interact deeply with political and economic outcomes, and second, that he is happy to oversimplify and generalize such issues to arrive at some weirdly new-age happy talk. For example,"I don't believe the world can get significantly better if we leave politics to career politicians. That is not what democracy means. I also nurse the conceit (for which there is abundant evidence) that human beings are basically good...It seems to follow that if only democracy can be made to work-if the will of humanity as a whole can prevail-then the world could be a far better place: that it could, after all, come through these next few difficult decades...And so he joins Einstein in demonstrating that some scientists shouldn't quit their day jobs to seek elected office. Despite that, the book is terrific, and even the fourth section has lots of interesting, if utopian, perspectives. Read it as you long for spring!
—Mark
This could of been organized a lot better, some interesting stuff at the start, a long groaning mind-numbing slog through the middle, and then some interesting stuff at the end. I don't read a lot of popular science books, and now i'm reminded why, the tone can be quite cringe-worthy sometimes with lame jokes and tired metaphors being nudged in here and there to make the dense scientific jargon more accessible; spare me, but don't bore me either. Its a hard tone to master and this doesn't make the grade; however, i did ultimately enjoy reading more about trees and i learnt a lot, which was all i was looking for. So all in all, i didn't mind it.
—Mr_wormwood
Another recommendation from a friend from far far away. A true tree lover. And it seems that I receive very good recommendations lately.The book starts by explaining some basic things about what trees are, how they evolved to be what they are and how they are categorised into species, families and so on. Then there is an extensive part of the book talking about all the different categories of trees (that I more or less skipped) in order to go to the most interesting part of the book: Trees' relationships with each other and with other organisms.This book made me remember my old love for trees (specially for fig trees, since I more or less grew up on top of a fig tree) and helped me understand the tremendous role that trees have in the ecosystem. It also provides with very detailed insights on the way trees reproduce with a few fascinating examples.It's quite well written, with enough humor here and there. After a while the language structure becomes a bit too repetitive but this is overshadowed by the information that is provided.
—Tassos
