She calls herself a “renegade scientist”—Diana Beresford-Kroeger is without a doubt a rare specimen. Not only is she a scientist with degrees in botany, molecular biology, has studied organic and radio nuclear chemistry, as well as experimental surgery, she is also the last in a line of Irish Druids dating back at least as far as 500 CE, a keeper of ancient secrets about the healing powers and properties of plants.
She has a passion for trees, and is on a mission to restore the forests of the world to their once majestic status as the dominant biomass on the land of this planet. Her latest book, The Global Forest, is a captivating exploration of the natural world, and the perils of ignoring our disappearing forests.
Irish-Canadian scientist Diana Beresford-Kroeger is one of the world’s experts on how trees chemically affect the environment. In her new book, she skillfully weaves together ecology, ethnobotany, horticulture, spirituality, science, and alternative medicine to capture the magic spell that trees cast over us, from their untapped ecological and pharmaceutical potential to the roles they have played in our cultural heritage.
Trees not only breathe and communicate; they also reproduce, provide shelter, medicine, and food, and connect disparate elements of the natural world. In celebrating the function and beauty of forests, Beresford-Kroeger warns what a deforested world would look like. Her revolutionary bioplan proposes how trees can be planted in urban and rural areas to promote health and counteract pollution and global warming, maintaining biodiversity in the face of climate change.
Presented in short essays, The Global Forest draws from ancient storytelling traditions to present an unforgettable work of natural history. Beresford-Kroeger is an imaginative thinker who writes with the precision of a scientist and the lyricism of a poet. Her indisputable passion for her subject matter will inspire readers to look at trees with newfound awe.
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