Trees: Their Natural History

by Peter Thomas

Trees are vital to the healthy functioning of the global ecosystem and unparalleled in the range of materials they provide for human use. This volume is a comprehensive introduction to the natural history of trees, with information on all aspects of tree biology and ecology in easy-to-read and concise language. Peter Thomas uncovers fascinating insights into these ubiquitous plants, addressing in an illuminating way questions such as how trees are designed, how they grow and reproduce, and why they eventually die. Written for a nontechnical audience, the book is nonetheless rigorous in its treatment and a valuable source of reference for beginning students as well as interested lay readers.

Genres: Nature, Science, Nonfiction, Plants, Biology, Natural History, Ecology

286 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

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Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended by Hope Jahred in Her book Lab Girl.
I did learn a lot of interesting facts about trees, but I found it heavy reading. I think the narrative could have been simpler. The diagrams and box charts are clear, but some of the photos were too dark.

[Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book like this (not saying just this one, others like it could be possible options) should be required reading to graduate in the school of life. It’s too easy to sprint through day after day and never actually look, really look, at a tree. Not after reading this.
Trees are amazing creatures and the 10 hours or so it took to read this will enhance the thousands of hours I spend in the future on tree-lined walks and hikes.

[Andrew (Drew) Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good, thorough, readable introduction to trees and all that goes into their lives. The prose can be a little sterile, I suppose, but the author surprises sometimes with some winsome humour. It's a good resource and one I could see myself returning to every once in a while when I have a question about trees.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trees: Their Natural History is an excellent introduction to trees; the author concludes by writing that he hopes that the book "helps [the reader] appreciate how the trees around [them] are working and why they look and act the way they do" [385] and I think this is a good summary of what the book indeed achieves. As someone with no background in the natural sciences, I found it the right degree of difficulty for me: it was definitely challenging and I learned a lot of new scientific terms, but it was not so difficult as to be impenetrable. The book is full of interesting facts, informative charts and tables, well described photos, and explanations of phenomena one can observe in one's own environment. The book includes discussion of trees from all continents and climates, so any reader will find something relevant to their local ecology while also getting to learn about many trees they may never have seen before.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good overview of how trees work and the many adaptations and modifications to their environments they can achieve. Although the writing can be quite technical and scientific, Thomas' writing skilfully engages without alienating the lay person or the expert.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a recommendation from the book "Lab Girl". It was worth the trouble of getting it from a distant library. Reading it really increased my understanding of trees and their needs. Trees are so important, yet we often pay them no mind.

[Katyedid · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful presentation of the science, ecology, and wonder of trees. easy to read and follow.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book by Peter Thomas -- the type of scholarly but accessible survey for which Cambridge University Press is justly well-known. Illustrated with helpful line drawings illustrating difficult concepts. A second edition came out in 2014, and I have ordered a copy for our library. The level of detail is sometimes mind-boggling for the layperson, but both the novice and the scientist will finish this book knowing more about the natural history of trees than they did before. The book is written from a British point of view, but includes much information from other parts of the world. My favorite detail was the great age of yew trees found in British cemeteries -- they are so old that ancient churches were built around their roots, and some believe that these yew trees marked the site of pagan shrines that the churches replaced. Contains a vast amount of tree lore.

[Sara Van Dyck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers a thorough, readable discussion at a popular level, with many applications for the gardener or homeowner. It's best used for reference or dipping into, not to be gulped as a whole. Thomas makes many connections between the scientific stuff and ordinary experience, which kept me interested. For instance, tannins are a defense mechanism for many plants because they bind to proteins, thus making food less digestible and discouraging herbivores. For us humans, this explains why adding milk to tea makes it less bitter; the milk proteins bind to the tannins of the tea and we no longer taste them. My one criticism is that for a book of such depth, the index is skimpy.