Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest Paperback – June 21, 2022

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, by Suzanne Simard (2021)Part of the master gardener’s experience is a heightened awakening to the complexities of relationships in the plant world, and how we can explore that and broaden our own relationship with life and the world. This book is a well-merited and greatly enjoyed celebration of our curiosity.Reading this book is like a series of coffees with a bright and curious friend who thrives on looking into the unanswered questions of how plants grow and how rich the world is in relationships.Simard, now a professor of ecology at the University of British Columbia, is the third generation of loggers and farmers. Her childhood curiosity and fascination with forests led her to pursue a career in forestry and ecology. She struggled with the established forest practices of clearcutting and indiscriminate spraying, and began researching the role of various fungal networks (mycorrizae). Her writing engaged me and I too became curious about fungus in the forest. I found it hard to put the book down.She takes us to the forest and her laboratory, and invites us into her research and analysis, sharing the thrill of discovery and the development of her thinking. An engaging writer, she also weaves in her family life and her struggles with established science and industrial practices. Part memoir, part heroic tale, part mystery, and part botanical adventure and intrigue, the book is hard to put down. She fashions a compelling read and an intimate autobiography.This book is intriguing on a number of levels, and you come away with a new understanding of ecology, climate change, and the complexity of nature. This is also a celebration of one’s curiosity and our emotional connections to the earth and other living beings.“Finding the Mother Tree promises to change our understanding about what is really going on when a tree falls in the forest, and other pressing mysteries of the natural world.” --- Michael Pollan

This book presents new ideas of how a forest is created. Very informative and interesting book, presented in a very readable format.

This is a fascinating book about the interconnected community of trees; how they can communicate and care for each other, and the amazing things that the author Suzanne Simard has learned in her years of studying the forest ecosystem.Simard grabbed my attention right away in the Introduction, with the information that the complex underground fungal communication network that trees use to share information, bears a striking resemblance to the structure of the synapses and nodes of the human brain. She mentions that the chemicals that the trees use to communicate are identical to our own neurotransmitters. When you consider the level of communication, and ability to share information about potential danger, it really seems as though humans need to rethink their perception of trees and the entire forest ecosystem.The book has 15 chapters, and about 300 pages, and describes Simard's own personal journey that led to amazing groundbreaking scientific discoveries. There is quite a bit of information about the life cycles and networks of trees and fungi, and I'm still trying to absorb all of it. I will probably have to go back and read this a few times. There are also some beautiful pictures of forest environments, some in color and some black and white.I appreciate Simard for her unique dedication to the forest, and her contributions to science. This book really has me excited to do more research about this topic.

I like the personal journey interspersed with science, and leaned quite a lot about tree ecology n biology. The book gets a little bogged down and wordy describing her interpersonal experiences and details thereof, but this lends a personal note. Had read in depth New Yorker article some years ago regarding the fungal network through which trees communicate. This book takes that set of knowledge and explains how she documented this with many experiments and then applied this revelation to changing the practice of clear cutting. It's informative!

The book is very detailed in terms of science, forestry, and botany. At times it felt like too many details for someone unfamiliar with the topic, but it never lost my interest. The detailed accounts of the research were accompanied by details of the life of Suzanne Simard while she struggled with being heard in an industry that values more production over preservation. We accompany her through her research as well as her life, including grief, nostalgia, romance, sickness, etc. in other words, we see a complete human being figuring herself out while working for nature and against its destruction

I ordered the book immediately after hearing the author interviewed on NPR. I was already familiar with her work through other reading. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of her narrative and the quality of the writing. There is a story of her family's generations of experience logging in British Columbia. There is the revelatory moment from her childhood when the family had to dig a deep pit to rescue a dog , exposing the complex layers in the soil going down many feet, a memory that spurred her research. There is the story of a woman in a field dominated by men, proving over and over again the truth she could see while the entrenched powers that be tried to belittle and deny her. There is the parallel between her love for her children and her love for the mother trees. And there are plenty of photos to help the reader visualize the experience. This book is a gem both for the content and quality of its presentation. I will be giving many copies as gifts.