The Genius of Trees
Taking us on an awe-inspiring journey through deep history and across the globe, ‘The Genius of Trees’ restores trees to their rightful position not as victims of our negligence but as ingenious, stunningly inventive agents in a grand ecological narrative. Some have been using fire as a reproductive tool since prehistoric times. Others have gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure their fruits reach large primates, who can spread their seeds over vast distances, while poisoning smaller and less useful mammals. Some can split solid rock and create fertile ground in barren landscapes, effectively building entire ecosystems from scratch. For the first time, we witness the inventive and astonishing ways trees sculpt and even master their environment and understand the science of how they achieve these feats.
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'Sublime ... It is a true masterpiece' DAILY TELEGRAPH, *****
'Mind-blowing' GUARDIAN
'Wondrous. Gives us trees as we've never seen them before' ISABELLA TREE, author of Wilding
**A TELEGRAPH, COUNTRY LIFE, NEW YORKER and CRITIC BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025**
The extraordinary story of the inventive and astonishing ways trees have shaped our natural world.
Over hundreds of millions of years, from the prehistoric forests to those standing tall over us today, trees have evolved to sculpt the environments. They split rock, change sex, spin carbon, and manipulate bacteria, animals and even humankind to achieve their ends and shape the natural world.
In The Genius of Trees, Harriet Rix takes us on a mind-expanding, globe-spanning journey into the remarkable inner lives of trees. For the first time, we see trees not as victims, but as powerful agents of change in a grand ecological narrative - as leading actors in the great drama of life on earth who have transformed our planet and offer us hope for its future.
'Exceptional ... Changes our entire view of trees' ROBIN LANE FOX, Financial Times Gardening Columnist
'Full of wonder and revelation' SUE STUART-SMITH, author of The Well Gardened Mind
'Captivating' COUNTRY LIFE
'Profoundly inventive' INDEPENDENT
'A magisterial tour de force - destined to become a classic' BEN RAWLENCE, author of The Treeline
Additional information
| Weight | 624 g |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 242 × 162 × 32 mm |
| Author | |
| Publisher | The Bodley Head |
| Imprint | The Bodley Head |
| Cover | Hardback |
| Pages | 288 |
| Language | English |
| Edition | |
| Dewey | 582.16 (edition:23) |
| Readership | General – Trade / Code: K |