- Author: John Giehl, UC Master Gardener
Growing Knowledge: Book Published by Viking Press in 2017, The Songs of Trees was written by David Haskell, professor of biology and environmental studies at University of the South. Professor Haskell is a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Pulitzer Prize Finalist (basically a guy who spends a lot of time in the woods).
The book is broken into three sections or parts: wilderness trees, fossilized trees, and metro trees. Along the way in discussion of the types of trees, the author travels from a Canadian boreal forest to the Scottish highland to the Amazonian tropical river basin to the snow shrouded mountain peaks in Japan. Within the United States, he visits Appalachia; the Florida Keys; Denver, Colorado; and New York City. Whew, a lot of research.
During the journey, soil science, climatology (the scientific study of climate), forestry, geology, and paleontology are discussed in essay form. These essays are punctuated with fascinating Jeopardy-worthy factoids! Some examples include:
“3% of earth's surface contains 50% of earth's population.” p196
“Pigeons, starlings, and sparrows constitute 80% of earth's birds.” p195
“The epicenter of hunter/gatherer culture is the campfire. Their songs and stories create society.” p113
“Physical death is not the end of life. Half the forest species find food and/or habitat within fallen trees.” p83
….and if you wonder if any of this is relevant, “20% of the CO2 released into the atmosphere each year is due to forest fire.” p136
The mood of the book is meditative/contemplative. It might have been written by Thoreau or Whitman - had they been arborists. It is an invitation to stop, look, and listen, a beckon to mindfulness. For example, casual observations include differential acoustics relative to conifer needles versus deciduous leaves, and the malleability of trunk, branches, and twigs which establish distinctive series of sounds not unlike an instrumental melody. Therein, the construct of “song.”
The role of trees is defined as mediator and connector between earth and sky, plant life and animal life, humans, and all life. For example, trees provide edible nuts and fruit, wood for cooking and heating, lumber for habitat and shelter, pulp for paper, protective shade, biochemical balance with O2- CO2 exchange among a multitude of different uses that all humankind enjoy.
This book is a reminder that we as a people have begun to suffer from Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD). We each, individually and collectively, need to take a moment to stop and “Listen to the Songs of Trees!”