The Global Forest: Forty Ways Trees Can Save Us

A pioneering scientist writes of the fascinating ecological and pharmaceutical properties of trees, and how mother trees nourish younger trees and help them defend themselves

The inspiration for the documentary Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees, and herself part of the inspiration for Dr. Patricia Westerford, the tree researcher at the heart of The Overstory, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Richard Powers

Renowned scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger presents an unforgettable and highly original work of natural history with The Global Forest. She explores the fascinating and largely untapped ecological and pharmaceutical properties of trees: leaves that can comb the air of particulate pollution, fatty acids in the nuts of hickory and walnut trees that promote brain development, the compound in the water ash that helps prevent cancer, aerosols in pine trees that calm nerves. In precise, imaginative, and poetic prose, she describes the complexity and beauty of forests, as well as the environmental dangers they face. The author's indisputable passion for her subject matter will inspire readers to look at trees, and at their own connection to the natural world, with newfound awe.


About the Author
DIANA BERESFORD-KROEGER is a world-recognized botanist, medical biochemist and author, whose work uniquely combines western scientific knowledge and the traditional concepts of the ancient world. Her books include To Speak for the Trees, The Sweetness of a Simple Life, The Global Forest, Arboretum Borealis, Arboretum America--which won the National Arbor Day Foundation Award for exemplary educational work on trees and forests--Time Will Tell, and A Garden for Life. She is the author and presenter of a feature documentary, Call of the Forest, and is also at the heart of an upcoming three-part series airing on PBS called The Truth about Trees. Currently she is advocating on behalf of an ambitious global "bioplan" encouraging ordinary people to develop a new relationship with nature and join together to restore the global forest.