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The Museum of the Wood Age
A passionate and imaginative exploration of wood – the material that shaped human history.
As a material, wood has no equal in strength, resilience, adaptability and availability. It has been our partner in the cultural evolution from woodland foragers to engineers of our own destiny. Tracing that partnership through tools, devices, construction and artistic expression, Max Adams casts light on our own history as an imaginative, curious, resourceful species.
He begins with the material properties of various species of wood, and the influence of six basic devices – wedge, inclined plane, screw, lever, wheel, axle and pulley – before investigating the myriad ways in which wood has been worked across the millennia of human history. From the simple bivouacs of hunter-gatherers to sophisticated wooden buildings such as stave churches; from the decorative arts to the humble woodworking of rustic furniture; Max Adams fashions a lattice of interconnected stories and objects that trace a path of human ingenuity across half a million years.
As a material, wood has no equal in strength, resilience, adaptability and availability. It has been our partner in the cultural evolution from woodland foragers to engineers of our own destiny. Tracing that partnership through tools, devices, construction and artistic expression, Max Adams casts light on our own history as an imaginative, curious, resourceful species.
He begins with the material properties of various species of wood, and the influence of six basic devices – wedge, inclined plane, screw, lever, wheel, axle and pulley – before investigating the myriad ways in which wood has been worked across the millennia of human history. From the simple bivouacs of hunter-gatherers to sophisticated wooden buildings such as stave churches; from the decorative arts to the humble woodworking of rustic furniture; Max Adams fashions a lattice of interconnected stories and objects that trace a path of human ingenuity across half a million years.
- GenresHistoryScienceNonfiction
416 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2022
About the author
Max Adams
23 books194 followersI am an archaeologist, woodsman and traveller. I live in the North-east of England where I write about landscape and history. My next non-fiction work, to be published in Autumn 2017, is called Alfred's Britain - a history and archaeology of the British Isles in the Viking Age. The King in the North has been a non-fiction bestseller since its publication. In the Land of Giants, my latest non-fiction book, is a series of journeys, mostly on foot, through Dark Age landscapes.
In May 2016 I published my first novel, The Ambulist.
In May 2016 I published my first novel, The Ambulist.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 10, 2025
Emense in scope and thorough. This is a delightful and educational romp through history with one of our most faithful companions. From ancient times to the present day we rely heavily on this amazing substance for many parts of life.
October 2, 2022
Dense & fascinating, but probably only for the wood-obsessive.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews