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hfjarmer 's review for:
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest
by Suzanne Simard
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
4.5 ⭐
“It is a philosophy of treating the world’s creatures, its gifts, as of equal importance to us. This begins by recognizing that trees and plants have agency. They perceive, relate, and communicate; they exercise various behaviors. They cooperate, make decisions, learn, and remember—qualities we normally ascribe to sentience, wisdom, intelligence.”
Not to be dramatic but this book may have changed my life? *Finding the Mother Tree* is a beautiful work of nonfiction that is equal parts science expose and memoir. Simard takes the reader along her journey of scientific discovery in her quest to understand if and how fungi and roots facilitate communication and interaction between trees and plants of an ecosystem while simultaneously giving us insight into deeply personal aspects of her life along the way. From breaking through the “boys club” of early forestry efforts to motherhood to battling cancer and so much in between, Simard takes us through it all, and quite beautifully.
What I loved about this book as someone with a research background was the way Simard walked the reader through her scientific process. From early hunches through full-fledged peer reviewed publications in her field, Simard seemingly leaves nothing out. My research background is exclusively in the field of microbiology and as such I am intimately familiar with “small scale” experimentation as a result of my subject matter, but what was fascinating to me about Simard’s research is the sheer scale of it all. Simard’s research is conducted in forests and greenhouses alike, and it was so interesting to read about a side of research about which I know very little. I enjoyed walking through her experimental design, and seeing how each discovery opened the door for a whole slew of additional unknowns, prompting even more research. Research is positive feedback loop.
Simard’s discovery that trees “talk” to each other and to other species, as she points out, is information that many indigenous cultures have “known” for generations, and now with scientific support from Simard and other scientists across the globe, my view of forests will never be the same. Simard discusses the spirituality she holds as a result of her life long relationship with the forest, and it has brought many interesting thoughts about my own spirituality. This book is quite dense, but was so worth the read.
“It is a philosophy of treating the world’s creatures, its gifts, as of equal importance to us. This begins by recognizing that trees and plants have agency. They perceive, relate, and communicate; they exercise various behaviors. They cooperate, make decisions, learn, and remember—qualities we normally ascribe to sentience, wisdom, intelligence.”
Not to be dramatic but this book may have changed my life? *Finding the Mother Tree* is a beautiful work of nonfiction that is equal parts science expose and memoir. Simard takes the reader along her journey of scientific discovery in her quest to understand if and how fungi and roots facilitate communication and interaction between trees and plants of an ecosystem while simultaneously giving us insight into deeply personal aspects of her life along the way. From breaking through the “boys club” of early forestry efforts to motherhood to battling cancer and so much in between, Simard takes us through it all, and quite beautifully.
What I loved about this book as someone with a research background was the way Simard walked the reader through her scientific process. From early hunches through full-fledged peer reviewed publications in her field, Simard seemingly leaves nothing out. My research background is exclusively in the field of microbiology and as such I am intimately familiar with “small scale” experimentation as a result of my subject matter, but what was fascinating to me about Simard’s research is the sheer scale of it all. Simard’s research is conducted in forests and greenhouses alike, and it was so interesting to read about a side of research about which I know very little. I enjoyed walking through her experimental design, and seeing how each discovery opened the door for a whole slew of additional unknowns, prompting even more research. Research is positive feedback loop.
Simard’s discovery that trees “talk” to each other and to other species, as she points out, is information that many indigenous cultures have “known” for generations, and now with scientific support from Simard and other scientists across the globe, my view of forests will never be the same. Simard discusses the spirituality she holds as a result of her life long relationship with the forest, and it has brought many interesting thoughts about my own spirituality. This book is quite dense, but was so worth the read.