A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization - Softcover

Perlin, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0881506761 ISBN 13: 9780881506761

Publisher: Countryman Press, 2005

Synopsis

A contemporary view of the effects of wood, as used for building and fuel, and of deforestation on the development of civilization.

Until the ascendancy of fossil fuels, wood has been the principal fuel and building material from the dawn of civilization. Its abundance or scarcity greatly shaped, as A Forest Journey ably relates, the culture, demographics, economy, internal and external politics, and technology of successive societies over the millennia.

The book's comprehensive coverage of the major role forests have played in human life--told with grace, fluency, imagination, and humor―gained it recognition as a Harvard Classic in Science and World History and as one of Harvard's "One-Hundred Great Books." Others receiving the honor include such luminaries as Stephen Jay Gould and E. O. Wilson. This new paperback edition will add a prologue and an epilogue to reflect the current situation in which forests have become imperative for humanity's survival. 50 black-and-white photos and illustrations, bibliography, index

About this title

From the Back Cover:

The destruction of the world's forests is one of the major concerns of our age. Each year the world loses some 37 million acres of forests. But this book is more than just a chronicle of deforestation.

About the Author:

John Perlin has also authored A Golden Thread: Twenty-Five Hundred Years of Solar Architecture and Technology (with Ken Butti) and From Space to Earth: The Story of Solar Electricity. He researched and wrote the narrative for the film Power from the Sun with Nobel Laureates Drs. Walter Kohn and Alan Heeger. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Countryman Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0881506761
• ISBN 13: 9780881506761
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 464