Friday Reads: Trees and Seas
This Saturday we pay special tribute to our home during Earth Day. Indeed, one way to measure the health of our planet is to look to the trees and the seas. The following books appreciate that fact through beautiful, informative and inspiring writing. We invite you to enter their pages and contemplate your relationship with the environment.
THE SONGS OF TREES: STORIES FROM NATURE’S GREAT CONNECTORS by David George Haskell
David Haskell’s award-winning The Forest Unseen won acclaim for eloquent writing and deep engagement with the natural world. Now, Haskell brings his powers of observation to the biological networks that surround all species, including humans.
THE SEA INSIDE by Philip Hoare
In colorful prose and lively line drawings, Hoare sets out to rediscover the sea and its islands, birds, and beasts. Starting at his home on the shores of Britain’s Southampton Water and moving in ever-widening circles—like the migration patterns of whales—Hoare explores London, the Isle of Wight, the Azores, Sri Lanka, Tasmania, and New Zealand on his year-long adventure.
THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES: A STORY OF LOST GROVES, THE SCIENCE OF TREES, AND A PLAN TO SAVE THE PLANET by Jim Robbins
New York Times Science reporter Jim Robbins has written a provocative, fascinating book with an inspiring narrative at its center about a visionary man who is revolutionizing the way people think about trees. For each of the 872 known species of trees in the United States, there is one that is taller, wider, and hardier than all the others—the champion of its kind.
OCEAN COUNTRY: ONE WOMAN’S VOYAGE FROM PERIL TO HOPE IN HER QUEST TO SAVE THE SEAS by Liz Cunningham
Ocean Country is an adventure story, a call to action, and a poetic meditation on the state of the seas. But most importantly it is the story of finding true hope in the midst of one of the greatest crises to face humankind, the rapidly degrading state of our environment. After a near-drowning accident in which she was temporarily paralyzed, Liz Cunningham crisscrosses the globe in an effort to understand the threats to our dazzling but endangered oceans. This intimate account charts her thrilling journey.
THE GLOBAL FOREST: FORTY WAYS TREES CAN SAVE US by Diana Beresford-Kroeger
The inspiration for renowned scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger’s documentary, “Call of the Forest”, The Global Forest is a lushly written, compelling tribute to trees-grounded in a wide range of scientific knowledge. Particularly fascinating, is the author’s exploration of the largely untapped ecological and pharmaceutical properties of trees.
UNDER THE SEA WIND by Rachel L. Carson
Rachel Carson—pioneering environmentalist and author of Silent Spring—opens our eyes to the wonders of the natural world in her groundbreaking paean to the sea. Celebrating the mystery and beauty of birds and sea creatures in their natural habitat, Under the Sea-Wind—Rachel Carson’s first book and her personal favorite—is the early masterwork of one of America’s greatest nature writers.
For more on these and related titles visit the collection Trees and Seas