Tree Story

Tree Story gives readers a lively, sometimes visceral feel for Trouet's work.

Tree Story is everything I had hoped it would be: intelligent, accessible, witty, and captivating—a global adventure spanning millennia and embracing a bevy of unexpected topics, all resulting from the study of tree rings.

In her delightful Tree Story, dendrochronologist Valerie Trouet obliterates the layman's notion that tree rings provide little more information than a tree's age. What trees can teach seems limited only by science's ability to extract the information.

The chapters spill over with information and would be overwhelming were it not for the book's organization, the images and digital illustrations, and the author's ability to share her scholarly adventures with such evident enjoyment.

Enjoyable and accessible. Drawing on a rich array of examples from around the world, the lively book is full of thought-provoking discussion of our relationships with trees and the climate.

Tree Story is a work of science, of graphs and statistics. But Trouet recounts too the personal thrill of discovery, the camaraderie and competitiveness of academic science, and the arduous nature of her research.

Tree Story offers a passionate yet clear-eyed introduction into the field of dendrochronology.

Here, we are taken on a fascinating journey through history, as remembered by the trees of the world. Trouet weaves together stories from the field and the lab to demonstrate that there is far more to studying tree rings than counting them.

It's all in the tree rings—and trees don't lie.

The book has already been reviewed and recommended in many places, and highlighted as an excellent work of popular science. Here I would like to recommend the book to be used as a textbook for students being exposed to scientific ideas and methods, to arouse their curiosity and show them how diverse fields like natural science and human history interact.

Valerie Trouet's book is an excellent starting point to explore the relationships between trees and people and to look at the expectations and disappointments on the way to developing a way to communicate not only about but also with trees.

If tree rings are the scribes of history, Valerie Trouet is their chief scrivener. Highly recommended.

[Tree Story's] geeky enthusiasm... makes the entire book such a pleasure to read.

Tree Story should be well-received by a variety of readers, professional and non-professional alike... The book is well-written and designed, with good pacing that intermixes entertaining and informative narrative in focused chapters that are not overlong.

In this primer, a dendrochronologist explains how tree rings reveal the past via a science that exists 'at the nexus of ecology, climatology and human history.'

Trouet is at her best when recounting field experiences or telling stories about fortuitous discoveries in the lab. Readers worldwide who enjoy popular science and its links to human history will enjoy this book.

Extolling the virtues of dendrochronology as a laudable tool for unlocking the secrets of natural and human history, this refreshing book will interest anyone who wants to understand the meaning of their existence, the miracle of life, and the beautiful ways in which our natural history has brought humans to our current state of civilization.

A witty and engaging book that brings the story of tree rings to a wider audience.

Trouet does a splendid job of elucidating the connections between dendrochronology (the precise dating of tree rings to the calendar year when they were formed) and advances in climatology, hydrology, archaeology, ecology, and history. A significant contribution and overview of dendro-science writ large. Engagingly written; the scholarship is highly commendable.

Beautifully captures the balance between science and engaging narrative. There are no similar books that tell the exciting story of dendrochronology.

Perfect for scientifically curious readers, Tree Story is a fascinating book about a field that has made major contributions to our understanding of past societies, as well as our current climate predicament.

For anyone who has been intrigued by the growth rings in a tree stump, this book is for you. Dr. Trouet, a renowned scholar, weaves together science and adventure as she unlocks the many secrets hidden in the hearts of trees.