July 2013: The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature

[Kristoffer]

Post your questions, comments and outrages here to share and discuss with other members. Happy reading!

[Paul]

My libraries do not have a copy of this. If I can get hold of a copy I will happily join you in the discussion

[Kristoffer]

Steven wrote: "What has happened to the July group read?"

Just gave this thread the wrong name. Sorry. How? I don't know. Seemingly can't avoid making big mistakes. Wasn't on the front page since Goodreads doesn't update from to-read to currently-reading automatically.

[Christine]

I've just started this. I'm a bit sad that there are no pictures, but google images helps out :)

[Steven]

The book is off to a good start about lichens. They can be valuable in geological and archaeological dating of recent events. Growth rates are determined from a lichen-bearing tombstone from near the study site to determine rate of lichen growth. With this information you can measure the size of a lichen at a study site and determine a relative age of an event. The author is an excellent writer.

[Tim]

About halfway through it. Love it so far, really found interesting a discussion about the role of deer in the forests of the eastern U.S. (too few? too many?). Love how the author touches upon so many subjects...why is the sky blue, how do small birds survive in winter, how do ferns reproduce, etc. Neat book!

[Steven]

This is a very impressive book. As a palaeontologist I study organisms of the past--worlds long lost. My student is concerned about this: he wants his life to make a difference in conservation biology. I am going to give him this book to read; it has changed my world view and challenged my contributions as a scientist. A great book selection.

[Tim]

Finished the book, posted a review of it. Fantastic book! Really enjoyed it. Reminded me a lot of the show Connections.

[Kristoffer]

Actually finished one of our Group Reads for once. I liked it, not the kind of book I would normally read at all; Which seems to be a common choice for our group. I found some parts somewhat a drag, but picked up a lot of interesting stuff as well.

I've never before realized just how lacking my vocabulary were. Especially on this subject apparantly.

I found this quote quite interesting:

"The “tree” of life is a poor metaphor. The deepest parts of our genealogies resemble networks or deltas, with much interweaving and cross flow.

We are Russian dolls, our lives made possible by other lives within us. But whereas dolls can be taken apart, our cellular and genetic helpers cannot be separated from us, nor we from them. We are lichens on a grand scale."

Found already on page 4 it gave me quite a thoughtful start.