I guess I shouldn't have high expectations for popular science books from 1970. The Secret Life of the Forest is a decent ramble through North American forestry, with some charming popular science explanation of how plants work. But I wasn't aware how old it was when it was written, which explains the rather cavalier attitude towards the science of ecology and conservation. At it's best, this book has some delightful anecdotes about forests before the 20th century, but it fails to create any kind of coherent story, or even an outdated scientific rigor.