Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Age of Wood by Roland Ennos - Available

The Age of Wood

Our Most Useful Material and the Construction of Civilization

by Roland Ennos
Dennis Boutsikaris
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
A "smart and surprising" (Booklist) "expansive history" (Publishers Weekly) detailing the role that wood and trees have played in our global ecosystem—including human evolution and the rise and fall of empires—in the bestselling tradition of Yuval Harari's Sapiens and Mark Kurlansky's Salt.
As the dominant species on Earth, humans have made astonishing progress since our ancestors came down from the trees. But how did the descendants of small primates manage to walk upright, become top predators, and populate the world? How were humans able to develop civilizations and produce a globalized economy? Now, in The Age of Wood, Roland Ennos shows for the first time that the key to our success has been our relationship with wood.

"A lively history of biology, mechanics, and culture that stretches back 60 million years" (Nature) The Age of Wood reinterprets human history and shows how our ability to exploit wood's unique properties has profoundly shaped our bodies and minds, societies, and lives. Ennos takes us on a sweeping journey from Southeast Asia and West Africa where great apes swing among the trees, build nests, and fashion tools; to East Africa where hunter gatherers collected their food; to the structural design of wooden temples in China and Japan; and to Northern England, where archaeologists trace how coal enabled humans to build an industrial world. Addressing the effects of industrialization—including the use of fossil fuels and other energy-intensive materials to replace timber—The Age of Wood not only shows the essential role that trees play in the history and evolution of human existence, but also argues that for the benefit of our planet we must return to more traditional ways of growing, using, and understanding trees.

A brilliant blend of recent research and existing scientific knowledge, this is an "excellent, thorough history in an age of our increasingly fraught relationships with natural resources" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 1, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797114569
      • File size: 242722 KB
      • Duration: 08:25:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Dennis Boutsikaris, no stranger to nonfiction, performs a re-examination of human evolution that puts our arboreal origins at its hub. Boutsikaris takes on a conversational tone, which increases the accessibility of this well-researched audiobook by helping listeners connect with the importance of trees, not only for humankind's physical development but also for our sociocultural and technological advances. The treatise provides easy-to-understand context, uncovering the central role wood played in the development of tool use, shelter, and water transportation all the way up to the precipitating events of the U.S. Revolutionary War--and even everyday life in the 21st century. Boutsikaris's varied cadence keeps listeners engaged, and his thoughtful pacing allows time to think about the author's theories and novel concepts. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 5, 2020
      Ennos (Trees), a professor of biological sciences at the University of Hull, delivers an illuminating and fluidly written study of “the central role of wood in the human story.” Drawing from archaeology, anthropology, biomechanics, and architecture, among other academic fields, Ennos documents the links between trees and timber and a wide range of historical milestones, from the evolution of the human hand (primates developed soft pads on their fingertips and nails instead of claws in order to better grip tree branches) to the Boston Tea Party (inspired by an earlier riot in New Hampshire against British laws prohibiting the harvesting of large white pine trees). Ennos also examines the complexity of everyday wooden items; notes that the cellular structure of wood inspired the structure of plastics; and details the use of laminated wood in recent construction projects, including the Forte tower in Australia and the Richmond Olympic Oval in Canada. Extended discussions of bronze, wrought iron, steel, concrete, and plastics somewhat undermine the central argument that mankind has never fully left “the age of wood.” Still, this expansive history will give readers a newfound appreciation for one of the world’s most ubiquitous yet overlooked materials. Agent: Peter Tallack, the Science Factory.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading