How to Read a Tree: The Sunday Times Bestseller

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One of the best books I have ever read - I can no longer look passively at a tree without Mr Gooley's insight coursing through my brain - this is a good thing! Nature is so much more involved and interconnected than most people ever begin to think. I would highly recommend this book to all who wish to learn more about the world around them, especially if you love trees (you will love them even more after this book!)

BBC Radio 4 - Today, The secret lives of trees

This book is highly recommended not just for tree lovers, but nature lovers who want to lose themselves in the scent and sights of the physical world. His down-to-earth voice and consummate respect for the topic puts this among the best nature writers and I’ve read many. I left this book wishing I could walk through a forest with Tristan Gooley and absorb his passion and love for this majestic part of nature. All of these trees are pioneers, the hares, winning in the short run, but most will be gone within a century, having been replaced by the climax tortoises. This means they form a particular sort of map. They hint at motion and upheaval and tell us of a recent major change in the landscape. We should look for the cause. This is an extract from How to Read a Tree: Clues & Patterns from Roots to Leaves by Tristan Gooley (Hodder & Stoughton)It was a lightbulb moment! I thought I knew my local woods – I walk there almost every day. But it’s a thrill to see it through fresh eyes, to develop a much deeper understanding.’– Peter Gibbs, Chair of BBC Gardeners’ Question Time In How to Read a Tree, Gooley uncovers the clues hiding in plain sight: in a tree’s branches and leaves; its bark, buds, and flowers; even its stump. Leaves with a pale, central streak mean that water is nearby. Young, low-growing branches show that a tree is struggling. And reddish or purple bark signals new growth. Each tree we meet is filled with signs that reveal secrets about the life of that tree and the landscape we stand in. The clues are easy to spot when you know what to look for, but remain invisible to most people.

Trees (once and for all!) | by Understanding Decision Trees (once and for all!) | by

Trees don’t form straight rows in natural environments. Even those that line a river will show curves that reflect the bends. It follows that any straight line of trees is a sign that humans are behind it. The most obvious are the formal avenues of trees leading to something grand at the end, but there are many more interesting examples.The Rise of Resistant Ringworm: Genomic Sequencing Confirms the First Two Reported U.S. Cases of Trichophyton indotineae which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Gooley keeps a high level of interest throughout the book. This is a book I would give to anyone who has an interest in the world around us.

Reading trees: A quick review - Understanding Evolution Reading trees: A quick review - Understanding Evolution

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 7 hours and 53 minutes and is narrated by the author himself. He has a well modulated educated English accent. Samples of his voicework can be accessed through Overdrive media. Though there was no access to the audiobook available for review, the sound and production quality for the other books in the series (also narrated by the author) are high throughout the recordings. We must have highly readable books like "How to Read a Tree," I would recommend this to anyone interested in trees and forest ecology, especially to those who might have been virtually chased away earlier by works expecting the reader to know "deciduous climax forest" when an explanation of "these are the trees in an old forest that lose their leaves every year." Today's Justin Webb speaks to Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a Tree: Clues & Patterns from Roots to Leaves.

Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License ( To enhance the elegant pros, Tristan includes classic etchings of trees and their environs that added much to my understanding. The urban environment is tough for trees, with heavy footfall and motor traffic, but there are less obvious stresses too. It is warmer and drier than the surrounding area; there may be de-icing salt, dog mess and a long queue of people wanting to dig up the world.