Happy Earth Day!
What are your favorite memories involving trees? I grew up next to a pine woods and loved
spending my time in the woods climbing trees.
I also had a favorite old tree in my yard that I loved to sit in and read
books well into my teenage years. Sadly
my tree grew into electric wires and was chopped down. My love for trees and the outdoors became my profession
as I became an environmental engineer.
Into the Forest is a beautiful coffee table book that
focuses on trees, how they function, and how they are important for
humanity. As one would expect for a
National Geographic book, the photography in this book is gorgeous. I love looking at the pictures. The foreword to the book is by Suzanne
Simard, a Professor Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia. She gives a good discussion of why forests
are important for humanity. The
following chapters were in the book, and they were very informative and interesting:
Chapter 1 – Tree: To understand the forest, let us first
get to know the tree
Chapter 2 – Earth:
Trees emerge from the soil underneath, intertwining with the life it
cradles.
Chapter 3 – Water: Rain falls, sap rises: Trees play a part in the grand water cycle.
Chapter 4 – Air:
Trees breath in, breathe out, enhancing the air with subtle fragrance.
Chapter 5 – Fire:
Forest fires rage and destroy; new life rises phenix-like from the
ashes.
Chapter 6 – Forest:
Come into the forest: refreshed,
enriched, at peace with the world that surrounds you
I thought this book was fascinating. I wish I would have had it when I was
teaching environmental science to be able to share the beautiful photos and the
interesting vignettes with my students. Each
chapter was filled with interesting essays about different aspects of trees. I
loved Chapter 6 as it has some really interesting information about forests in the
cities and old forests. I would love to
visit a really old forest and I think trying to get more green space in cities
is a good thing.
Book Source: A
Review Copy Hachette Book Group as part of the TLC Book Tour. Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of
this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
