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Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future
A compelling global exploration of nature and survival as seen via a dozen species of trees that represent the challenges facing our planet, and the ways that scientists are working urgently to save our forests and our future.
The world today is undergoing the most rapid environmental transformation in human history—from climate change to deforestation. Scientists, ethnobotanists, indigenous peoples, and collectives of all kinds are closely studying trees and their biology to understand how and why trees function individually and collectively in the ways they do. In Twelve Trees, Daniel Lewis, curator and historian at one of the world's most renowned research libraries, travels the world to learn about these trees in their habitats.
Lewis takes us on a sweeping journey to plant breeding labs, botanical gardens, research facilities, deep inside museum collections, to the tops of tall trees, underwater, and around the Earth, journeying into the deserts of the American west and the deep jungles of Peru, to offer a globe-spanning perspective on the crucial impact trees have on our entire planet. When a once-common tree goes extinct in the wild but survives in a botanical garden, what happens next? How can scientists reconstruct lost genomes and habitats? How does a tree store thousands of gallons of water, or offer up perfectly preserved insects from millions of years ago, or root itself in muddy swamps and remain standing? How does a 5,000-year-old tree manage to live, and what can we learn from it? And how can science account for the survival of one species at the expense of others? To study the science of trees is to study not just the present, but the story of the world, its past, and its future.
Note—species include: * The Lost Tree of Easter Island (Sophora toromiro) * The coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) * Hymenaea protera [a fossil tree] * The Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) * East Indian sandalwood (Santanum album) * The Bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) * West African ebony (Diospyros crassiflora) * The Tasmanian blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) * Olive tree (Olea europaea) * Baobab (Adansonia digitata) * The kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) * The bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)
The world today is undergoing the most rapid environmental transformation in human history—from climate change to deforestation. Scientists, ethnobotanists, indigenous peoples, and collectives of all kinds are closely studying trees and their biology to understand how and why trees function individually and collectively in the ways they do. In Twelve Trees, Daniel Lewis, curator and historian at one of the world's most renowned research libraries, travels the world to learn about these trees in their habitats.
Lewis takes us on a sweeping journey to plant breeding labs, botanical gardens, research facilities, deep inside museum collections, to the tops of tall trees, underwater, and around the Earth, journeying into the deserts of the American west and the deep jungles of Peru, to offer a globe-spanning perspective on the crucial impact trees have on our entire planet. When a once-common tree goes extinct in the wild but survives in a botanical garden, what happens next? How can scientists reconstruct lost genomes and habitats? How does a tree store thousands of gallons of water, or offer up perfectly preserved insects from millions of years ago, or root itself in muddy swamps and remain standing? How does a 5,000-year-old tree manage to live, and what can we learn from it? And how can science account for the survival of one species at the expense of others? To study the science of trees is to study not just the present, but the story of the world, its past, and its future.
Note—species include: * The Lost Tree of Easter Island (Sophora toromiro) * The coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) * Hymenaea protera [a fossil tree] * The Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) * East Indian sandalwood (Santanum album) * The Bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) * West African ebony (Diospyros crassiflora) * The Tasmanian blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) * Olive tree (Olea europaea) * Baobab (Adansonia digitata) * The kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) * The bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)
304 pages, Hardcover
First published March 12, 2024
About the author
Daniel Lewis
5 books1 followerI work as a full-time endowed senior curator of the history of science and technology at the Huntington Library, Art Museum & Botanical Gardens in Southern California—and in a related vein—am a writer, college professor, and environmental historian. At the Huntington, I manage the documentary heritage (rare books, archival collections) related to modern (>1800) history of science and technology, working broadly across the natural and physical sciences.
I write mostly about the biological sciences and their intersections with evolution, policy, culture, history, politics, law, and literature. I hold the PhD in History and have had postdocs at Oxford, the Smithsonian, the Rachel Carson Center in Munich, and elsewhere. My 2012 book (The Feathery Tribe, Yale) was about the study of birds in the late 19th century and what it meant to be a professional after Darwinian evolution provided the mechanism for biological change. My 2018 book (Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction, and Evolution in Hawai'i, also with Yale) is an environmental history of extinction and survival among the avifauna of my native state, told in four species; it questions notions of purity among humans and animals. My new book (Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of our Future) is a conservation and climate change story, forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in early 2024. I'm also a consulting author for McGraw-Hill Education's K-7 social studies textbooks. I'm represented by Wendy Strothman of the Strothman Agency in NYC for my writing projects.
I write mostly about the biological sciences and their intersections with evolution, policy, culture, history, politics, law, and literature. I hold the PhD in History and have had postdocs at Oxford, the Smithsonian, the Rachel Carson Center in Munich, and elsewhere. My 2012 book (The Feathery Tribe, Yale) was about the study of birds in the late 19th century and what it meant to be a professional after Darwinian evolution provided the mechanism for biological change. My 2018 book (Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction, and Evolution in Hawai'i, also with Yale) is an environmental history of extinction and survival among the avifauna of my native state, told in four species; it questions notions of purity among humans and animals. My new book (Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of our Future) is a conservation and climate change story, forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in early 2024. I'm also a consulting author for McGraw-Hill Education's K-7 social studies textbooks. I'm represented by Wendy Strothman of the Strothman Agency in NYC for my writing projects.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 27, 2023
(3.5 stars)
Twelve trees, thousands if not more of interconnected species, hundreds of ways they affect our lives, our cultures, our future, and as many ways that we harm them.
This is a quite interesting book, very well researched that focuses on twelve trees, and their invaluable survival. Their survival is our survival as a species, and we should all understand and accept this, if we want to (somewhat) avoid the disasters that await us.
The only negative thing that I can find, is that the author lost his footing at some places, dedicating too many words for things he could cover in a couple of paragraphs.
An overall enjoyable and informative read, that I hope it will find a broad audience when published.
Thank you NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review
Twelve trees, thousands if not more of interconnected species, hundreds of ways they affect our lives, our cultures, our future, and as many ways that we harm them.
This is a quite interesting book, very well researched that focuses on twelve trees, and their invaluable survival. Their survival is our survival as a species, and we should all understand and accept this, if we want to (somewhat) avoid the disasters that await us.
The only negative thing that I can find, is that the author lost his footing at some places, dedicating too many words for things he could cover in a couple of paragraphs.
An overall enjoyable and informative read, that I hope it will find a broad audience when published.
Thank you NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review
September 29, 2023
Twelve Trees is a beautiful, well researched love letter to trees. Daniel Lewis describes 12 different species of trees in great detail. I really enjoyed learning about how different species of tree manage water and the importance of controlled fires to preventing massive disasters. Trees coexist as part of biomes and the interaction between trees and other forms of life are explored. After reading this book I have a much better understanding for how critical the survival of trees is to so many ecosystems and the general balance of biodiversity. Human interaction, disruption and consumption has already had catastrophic impacts on many species including trees discussed in this book.
I would rate this book as 4.5 stars. The one challenge that I had with the book is that there were sometime tangents that did not see relevant. The biological and ecological information was fascinating but sometimes the non-science tangents slowed down my reading.
My sincere hope is that many people will read this book and take action. Twelve Trees is a beautiful tribute to trees and the critical role we all have to play in preservation to mitigate climate change.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I would rate this book as 4.5 stars. The one challenge that I had with the book is that there were sometime tangents that did not see relevant. The biological and ecological information was fascinating but sometimes the non-science tangents slowed down my reading.
My sincere hope is that many people will read this book and take action. Twelve Trees is a beautiful tribute to trees and the critical role we all have to play in preservation to mitigate climate change.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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December 17, 2023I love, and have read several, books about trees. This one is less about trees and more a personal statement from the author on the impact of humans on nature - through deforestation, global warming, etc. - as such, it wasn’t for me. The author dedicates pages to a diary-like reflection of his interaction with trees often wandering completely from the tree of the chapters and, at times, from the topic of trees entirely. I had no desire to learn in detail about insects or production processes or several other tangents. It is well written and undoubtedly well research but far too little tree and far too much other for me.
March 28, 2024
This remarkable blend of science, poetry, history, and practical strategy derives its hope for the future-- as well as its awareness of fragility-- from trees and their relationship to their varied environments and to humans. The ingenuity of trees' resilience in all climates and eventualities is truly mind-boggling and inspiring.
The toromiro: "There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty." p. 61
The blue gum eucalyptus:"But trees are also good beyond their relationships with humans. They are active entities, with their own lives, their own rights, their own histories, each an ecosystem unto itself, providing a bulwark against a changing climate, offering nourishment, rest, and sustenance for other species, and space and quiet in their midst. They are the heartbeat of the world, Trees are the Earth's reporters, chronicling life and change over the long, elastic curve o history. All we need do is listen up." p.159
"If the bristlecone pine is like a book, the olive tree is like a song, blown from the hot and dry parts of the world, an aria that has reached all corners of the planet through the cultural delights of its fruit and oil. Let us continue working to ensure that the song remains strong." p. 177
The toromiro: "There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty." p. 61
The blue gum eucalyptus:"But trees are also good beyond their relationships with humans. They are active entities, with their own lives, their own rights, their own histories, each an ecosystem unto itself, providing a bulwark against a changing climate, offering nourishment, rest, and sustenance for other species, and space and quiet in their midst. They are the heartbeat of the world, Trees are the Earth's reporters, chronicling life and change over the long, elastic curve o history. All we need do is listen up." p.159
"If the bristlecone pine is like a book, the olive tree is like a song, blown from the hot and dry parts of the world, an aria that has reached all corners of the planet through the cultural delights of its fruit and oil. Let us continue working to ensure that the song remains strong." p. 177
April 4, 2024
Redwood trees add a ton of wood to their mass every year. It can be up to 25 feet in diameter at the bass, The soil can be up to 20 feet in depth some of the oldest known redwoods are more than 22 hundred years old. More humans have climbed Mount Everest than have climbed higher than 300 feet in a redwood tree.
March 30, 2024
3.5 stars. Because of the reviews I had read I expected it to be better. It did offer some interesting information.
April 3, 2024
The best chapters were on the Bristlecone pine tree...the oldest tree in the world and the Red Woods. Learned much more about trees overall,
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews