Synopses & Reviews
A gorgeously-written exploration of the natural world and the peril of ignoring our disappearing forests One of the world's experts on how trees chemically affect the environment, Canadian scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger is on a mission to save the planet- one newly planted tree at a time. In this new book, she skillfully weaves together ecology, ethnobotany, horticulture, spirituality, science, and alternative medicine to capture the magic spell that trees cast over us, from their untapped ecological and pharmaceutical potential to the roles they have played in our cultural heritage. Trees not only breathe and communicate; they also reproduce, provide shelter, medicine, and food, and connect disparate elements of the natural world. In celebrating forests' function and beauty, Beresford-Kroeger warns what a deforested world would look like. Her revolutionary bioplan proposes how trees can be planted in urban and rural areas to promote health and counteract pollution and global warming, maintaining biodiversity in the face of climate change.
Presented in short interconnected essays, The Global Forest draws from ancient storytelling traditions to present an unforgettable work of natural history. Beresford-Kroeger is an imaginative thinker who writes with the precision of a scientist and the lyricism of a poet. Her indisputable passion for her subject matter will inspire readers to look at trees with newfound awe.
Synopsis
Canadian scientist Beresford-Kroeger draws from ancient storytelling traditions to present an unforgettable work of natural history capturing the magic spell of trees, from their untapped potential to the roles they have played in our cultural heritage.
Synopsis
A lushly written, compelling tribute to trees-grounded in a wide range of scientific knowledge.
Renowned scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger presents an unforgettable and highly original work of natural history with The Global Forest. She explores the fascinating and largely untapped ecological and pharmaceutical properties of trees: leaves that can comb the air of particulate pollution, fatty acids in the nuts of hickory and walnut trees that promote brain development, the compound in the water ash that helps prevent cancer, aerosols in pine trees that calm nerves. In precise, imaginative, and poetic prose, she describes the complexity and beauty of forests, as well as the environmental dangers they face. The author's indisputable passion for her subject matter will inspire readers to look at trees, and at their own connection to the natural world, with newfound awe.
About the Author
Diana Beresford-Kroeger is a botanist, researcher, and lecturer who is an expert on the medicinal, environmental, nutritional, and herbicidal properties of trees. Her previous books include Arboretum America and A Garden For Life. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and on NPR and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She is well-known for the sprawling gardens on her property in Ontario, Canada, which include more than one hundred types of trees.