Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: View from the Top 1. What Is a Tree? 2. Goods and Services 3. Shelter and Protection 4. Health and Healing 5. Play and Imagination 6. Connections to Time 7. Signs and Symbols 8. Spirituality and Religion 9. Mindfulness Scientific Names of Trees in the Text Notes Recommended Readings Poetry Credits Index

About the Author

Nalini Nadkarni is the author of Rainforests, with J. Johnson, Monteverde: The Ecology and Conservation of a Tropical Cloud Forest, with N.T. Wheelwright, and Forest Canopies, with M.L. Lowman. She teaches in the Environmental Studies Program at The Evergreen State College and is President of the International Canopy Network. Her work has been featured in magazines such as Natural History, Glamour, and National Geographic and she has appeared in numerous television documentaries. In 2002, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship to better extend her work to the public. Nalini Nadkarni is the 2010 recipient of the National Science Board Public Service Award, presented annually to an individual who has made significant contributions in public understanding of science in the United States.

Reviews

"A wide-ranging and eye-opening book about trees and our connections to them." New Scientist "A wealth of entertaining arboreal facts and figures, but her personal anecdotes are the book's most compelling and inimitable feature." Publishers Weekly "Nadkarni's writing is like a love letter to trees that effortlessly mixes poetry and prose with environmentalism, culture, history and science." Foreword "Anyone who loves trees, who admires their steadfastness, who finds in their presence a certain peace ... will love this book." Canadian Field-Naturalist "Uplifting and edifying... Nadkarni has given us ... a kind of encyclopedic examination of nearly EVERYTHING that has to do with trees." Ecology "Nadkarni introduces readers to trees in a stunning variety of ways." -- Frederick J. Swanson, Us Forest Service Oregon Historical Qtly "Nadkarni is a wonder... Every page enthralls." Terrain Magazine

"A wide-ranging and eye-opening book about trees and our connections to them." New Scientist "A wealth of entertaining arboreal facts and figures, but her personal anecdotes are the book's most compelling and inimitable feature." Publishers Weekly "Nadkarni's writing is like a love letter to trees that effortlessly mixes poetry and prose with environmentalism, culture, history and science." Foreword "Anyone who loves trees, who admires their steadfastness, who finds in their presence a certain peace ... will love this book." Canadian Field-Naturalist "Uplifting and edifying... Nadkarni has given us ... a kind of encyclopedic examination of nearly EVERYTHING that has to do with trees." Ecology "Nadkarni introduces readers to trees in a stunning variety of ways." -- Frederick J. Swanson, Us Forest Service Oregon Historical Qtly "Nadkarni is a wonder... Every page enthralls." Terrain Magazine