In Trees - by Robert Moor (Hardcover)

About the Book

"From the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller On Trails comes a wondrous new journey through the wilds of nature and the gnarls of history, exploring how trees-from the mightiest sequoia to the tiniest bonsai-can teach us to grow wise. To truly grasp the wisdom of a tree, you need to begin thinking like one... One day, on a whim, Robert Moor set out to climb a tree near his home-unwittingly embarking on what would become a decade-long, globe-spanning adventure of intellectual and spiritual transformation. Pursuing the hidden wisdom of trees, he scales to the very top of a giant sequoia while filming a nature documentary with David Attenborough; he treks through swamps in Papua to reach a treehouse-dwelling tribe of hunter-gatherers; and he journeys to a remote research camp in Tanzania, where he spends a memorable night sleeping in a chimpanzee nest, seeking to understand our deep evolutionary history. Eventually, having gained a radical new outlook on both our gnarled past and our ever-branching future, he joins an intrepid clan of climate activists risking everything to halt construction of a new oil pipeline and save an ancient forest. Along the way, Moor learns the art of "tree-thinking," which, he discovers, has the power to break open some of humanity's oldest questions: What is the secret to truly growing old? How do we set down deeper roots in an increasingly chaotic world? Most importantly, how should we-as individuals, as communities, as stewards of the earth-live? A witty and relentlessly curious excursion through philosophy, history, and science, what begins as an ode to the miracle of trees blossoms into a joyous, daring, fiercely hopeful endeavor to arborize humanity"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

From the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller On Trails comes a wondrous new journey through the wilds of nature and the gnarls of history, exploring how trees--from the mightiest sequoia to the tiniest bonsai--can teach us to grow wise.

To truly grasp the wisdom of a tree, you need to begin thinking like one...

One day, on a whim, Robert Moor set out to climb a tree near his home--unwittingly embarking on what would become a decade-long, globe-spanning adventure of intellectual and spiritual transformation. Pursuing the hidden wisdom of trees, he scales to the very top of a giant sequoia while filming a nature documentary with David Attenborough; he treks through swamps in Papua to reach a treehouse-dwelling tribe of hunter-gatherers; and he journeys to a remote research camp in Tanzania, where he spends a memorable night sleeping in a chimpanzee nest, seeking to understand our deep evolutionary history. Eventually, having gained a radical new outlook on both our gnarled past and our ever-branching future, he joins an intrepid clan of climate activists risking everything to halt construction of a new oil pipeline and save an ancient forest.

Along the way, Moor learns the art of "tree-thinking," which, he discovers, has the power to break open some of humanity's oldest questions: What is the secret to truly growing old? How do we set down deeper roots in an increasingly chaotic world? Most importantly, how should we--as individuals, as communities, as stewards of the earth--live?

A witty and relentlessly curious excursion through philosophy, history, and science, what begins as an ode to the miracle of trees blossoms into a joyous, daring, fiercely hopeful endeavor to arborize humanity.

Review Quotes

"A new book in that rare category of 'classic upon publication.'"
--Bill McKibben, New York Times bestselling author of Here Comes the Sun

"Daring, inspired, and erudite, this is much more than a book about trees. Like the web of roots and fungi beneath an ancient forest, In Trees is wide-ranging, probing, and deftly interwoven, continually astonishing the reader with profound and unexpected connections. Moor's prose is, in turns, as lithe as a willow branch, as incisive as an axe, and as captivating as a cherry tree in riotous bloom. To read this book is to feel oneself anchored more firmly to the earth and, simultaneously, to become more open to life's many branching, wild possibilities."
--Ferris Jabr, New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Earth

About the Author

Hailed by The Wall Street Journal as a "philosopher on foot," Robert Moor is the bestselling author of On Trails and In Trees. Translated into more than a dozen languages, On Trails garnered the National Outdoor Book Award, the Pacific Northwest Book Award, and the William Saroyan International Prize. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper's, New York magazine, Outside, Emergence, and n+1, among other publications. He lives in Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia.