The Book of Bamboo

Bamboo's amazing versatility, strength, workability, and beauty have given it a longer and more varied role in human culture than any other plant known to humankind. This acclaimed sourcebook details the myriad ways in which this extraordinary plant is now used and presents many options for its use in the future. A bounty of facts and lore, the profusely illustrated book includes:

Bamboo cultivation - how to grow, maintain, and harvest bamboo

Crafts and constructions using bamboo: floors, fences, papers, playgrounds (built by kids!), swings, and treehouses

A "whole bamboo catalog" of tools and other artifacts made from bamboo - acupuncture needles, blowguns, bridges, kites, ships, violins, windmills, and a thousand other bamboo things

The seemingly endless variety of shelter applications, including lamination, "plybamboo," reinforced concrete, and earthquake-zone construction

Bamboo and the arts - a bamboo orchestra, the role of bamboo in the ancient "friendship ceremony," Sumi-e painting, and the depiction of the quivering leaf of the bamboo plant

An astonishing compendium of bamboo science, covering more than 1,200 species from 4 inches to 100 feet high (one species has been known to grow 4 feet in 24 hours)

Now available once again with a new preface by the author, The Book of Bamboo introduces us to the oldest, most remarkable resource on the planet. Part catalog, part history, The Book of Bamboo shows us how this versatile wood, which is both sustainable and plentiful, has been used for thousands of years to make items ranging from things needed for survival like clothing and housing to more exotic and luxurious objects like phonograph needles and children's toys, as well as dozens of others. With information both practical and wistful, David Farrelly tells us about the plant's biology and life cycle, gives tips on harvesting and planting, and lore about the ancient wood. Farrelly conveys the rich and timeless message that bamboo — strong, flexible, and beautiful in both its natural and its finished states is an abundant resource that could beneficially replace many of the less sustainable materials now commonly used in many aspects of our daily lives and transform our culture in the process.

David Farrelly has taught at Washington University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Saskatchewan. He has worked at planting, harvesting, and building with bamboo in rural Mexico, Nicaragua, France, and the United States.