List of Tree Species. I Count the Rings Down in Africa -- Adonis, Methusaleh, and Prometheus -- And the Tree Was Happy -- The Stone Age, the Plague, and Shipwrecks under the City -- The Hockey Stick Poster Child -- Wind of Change -- Winter Is Coming -- Three Tree-Ring Scientists Walk into a Bar -- Ghosts, Orphans, and Extraterrestrials -- Disintegration, or The Fall of Rome -- It's the End of the World as We Know It -- Once upon a Time in the West -- Will the Wind Ever Remember? -- After the Gold Rush -- The Forest for the Trees -- Playlist -- List of Tree Species.
Summary:
Most people know that to figure out how old a tree is, you count its rings. Few people, however, realize that the study of tree rings has made amazing contributions to our understanding of Earth's climate and its influences on the last 2,000 years of human history. In her captivating new book, Tree Story, Valerie Trouet reveals how the seemingly simple and relatively familiar concept of counting tree rings has inspired momentous scientific breakthroughs that illuminate the complex interactions between nature and people. Trouet, a leading tree-ring scientist, takes us out into the field, from remote African villages to radioactive Russian forests, offering an insider's look at the discipline known formally as dendrochronology. Tracing her own journey while exploring dendrochronology's origin and applications, Trouet describes how tell-tree cores are collected and dated with ring-by-ring precision, and explains the astonishing insights we've gained from the resulting samples. Blending popular science, travelogue, and cultural history, Tree Story highlights exciting findings of tree-ring research, including the fate of lost pirate treasures, successful strategies for surviving California wildfires, the secret to Genghis Khan's victories, the connection between Egyptian pharaohs and volcanoes, and even the role of olives in the fall of Rome. These fascinating stories are deftly woven together to demonstrate the ways in which dendrochronology sheds light on global climate dynamics and uncovers the clear links between humans and our leafy neighbors. Trouet delights us with her dedication to the tangible appeal of studying trees, a passion that has taken her around the globe and has enabled scientists to solve long-pondered mysteries of Earth and its human inhabitants. -- From publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.