The Wood for the Trees: The Long View of Nature from a Small Wood

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From one of our greatest science writers, this biography of a beech and bluebell wood through diverse moods and changing seasons combines stunning natural history with the ancient history of the countryside to tell the full story of the British landscape The woods are the great beauty of this country A fine forest like beech wood far beautiful than anything else which we have seen in its vicinity is how John Stuart Mill described a small patch of beech and bluebell woodland, buried deeply in the Chiltern Hills and now owned by Richard Fortey Drawing upon a lifetime of scientific expertise and abiding love of nature, Fortey uses his small wood to tell a wider story of the ever changing British landscape, human influence on the countryside over many centuries and the vital interactions between flora, fauna and fungi.The trees provide a majestic stage for woodland animals and plants to reveal their own stories Fortey presents his wood as an interwoven collection of different habitats rich in species His attention ranges from the beech and cherry trees that dominate the wood to the flints underfoot the red kites and woodpeckers that soar overhead the lichens, mosses and liverworts decorating the branches as well as the myriad species of spiders, moths, beetles and crane flies The 300 species of fungi identified in the wood capture his attention as much as familiar deer, shrews and dormice.Fortey is a naturalist who believes that all organisms are as interesting as human beings and certainly important than the observer So this book is a close examination of nature and human history He proves that poetic writing is compatible with scientific precision The book is filled with details of living animals and plants, charting the passage of the seasons, visits by fellow enthusiasts the play of light between branches the influence of geology and how woodland influences history, architecture and industry On every page he shows how an intimate study of one small wood can reveal so much about the natural world and demonstrates his relish for the incomparable pleasures of discovery. New Read Kindle ePUB The Wood for the Trees: The Long View of Nature from a Small Wood Author Richard Fortey – kino-fada.fr When I grow up I want to be like Richard Fortey.I noted early on that when I first started reading this book I thought I would grow bored of reading about the natural history of a forest in the UK Boy was I wrong.I loved this book because, if you know me, or at least are friends with me on FB, you know how much I like taking photos of the flora and fauna that inhabit our back yard If I had my druthers, I would stay home and catalog it, learn to draw it, and explore the inner workings of how it When I grow up I want to be like Richard Fortey.I noted early on that when I first started reading this book I thought I would grow bored of reading about the natural history of a forest in the UK Boy was I wrong.I loved this book because, if you know me, or at least are friends with me on FB, you know how much I like taking photos of the flora and fauna that inhabit our back yard If I had my druthers, I would stay home and catalog it, learn to draw it, and explore the inner workings of how...What an interesting, gentle, fabulous book It reads like a memoir, but it s a m lange of many things, include a few recipes and how to ideas mixed in, about a little wood and all its denizens in the Chiltern Hills of England Some history, some easily digested science, some poetic descriptions...Able to draw you from one intense and vivid description of beauty to the next.The Wood for the Trees is a title with two meanings It refers to a saying, Can t see the wood for the trees which is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as, to be unable to understand a situation clearly because you are too involved in it The first meaning possibly could involve the Darwinian history of the area, as described to the reader by the author The other meaning,closely embracing this beautiful bo Able to draw you from one intense and vivid description of beauty to the next.The Wood for the Trees is a title with two meanings It refers to a saying, Can t see the wood for the trees which is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as, to be unable to understand a situation clearly because you are too involved in it The first meaning possibly could involve the Darwinian history of the area, as described to the re...The Wood for the Trees One Man s Long View of Nature Fortey 4 starsRichard Fortney is a British paleontologist and author This book is an ongoing journal of a yearlong study of several acres of beech and bluebell wood that he bought after retiring from his position at the British Museum Each chapter is devoted to a month of the year Fortey discusses his observations of the botany, biology, and geology of the woodland He researches the human history of the surrounding area and discusses th The Wood for the Trees One Man s Long View of Nature Fortey 4 starsRichard Fortney is a British paleontologist and author This book is an ongoing journal of a yearlong study of several acres of beech and bluebell wood that he bought after retiring from his position at the British Museum Each chapter is devoted to a month of the year Fortey discusses his observations of the botany, biology, and geology of the woodland He researches the human history of the surrounding area and discusses the ecological issues facing the woodland in the future.I thought this book was very engaging and readable, in small doses Each month was divided into a variety of sub topics of two or three pages in length Such a wide variety of topics Nettle Fertilizer , Chanterelle Potatoes , Saved by the Chair , Rot and Renewal A plethora of trivia for example, necessary culling and cutting of the Lambeth beeches was made marginally profitable by the ...This book started out interesting, and I ve liked a number of his previous books he s a fellow geologist This one s about his retirement home in a rural, wooded of England, and his efforts to get to know it It would prob...I have a soft spot for almanac type books, arranged around the seasons Fortey is an agile, witty writer, with a great ability for apt description Lovely and erudite book that skips effortlessly from fo...You might also enjoy Wildwood A Journey Through Trees The Hidden Life of Trees Winter World The Ingenuity of Animal Survival Summer World A Season of Bounty Pilgrim at Tinker Creek The Old Ways A Journey on FootThis review has been hidden because it contains spoilers To view it, click here Nope.What a marketing scam This is not a biography of a beech and bluebell wood It is Fortey s diary and ego made large I couldn t even make it through the first chapter.It s a shame too, because, skimming the text, the bits where Fortey doesn t jump in front of the spotlight are actually well written and extremely interesting But I can t tolerate an author who impedes his own work by dem...So very charming and so very British I just love the enthusiasm and all the historical and biological facts jammed into this Richard Fortey buys a woods go figure and then learns about beech trees, furniture and walking stick making, mushrooms, bugs, birds, deer, moss from the moss man and all sorts of things It s all dingley dell, parabulations through the woods and cottages all ticketyboo The text i...Eons ago, I read Richard Fortey s Life A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth and enjoyed it though retaining little of scientific information he presented Science is not my forte Recently, I decided to check out what he d been up to Enter The Wood for the Trees One Man s Long View of Nature This book, which is divided into twelve chapters, one for each month, is a memoir that tells the story of a plot of land, four acres, that Fortey and his wife bought and Eons ago, I read Richard Fortey s Life A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth and enjoyed it though retaining little of scientific information he presented Science is not my forte Recently, I decided to check out what he d been up to Enter The Wood fo...

The Wood for the Trees: The Long View of Nature from a Small Wood
  • 13 August 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 320 pages
  • 0008104662
  • Richard Fortey
  • The Wood for the Trees: The Long View of Nature from a Small Wood