The Age of Wood
Book description
A “smart and surprising” (Booklist) “expansive history” (Publishers Weekly) detailing the role that wood and trees have played in our global ecosystem—including human evolution and the rise and fall of empires—in the bestselling tradition of Yuval Harari’s Sapiens and Mark Kurlansky’s Salt.
As the dominant species on Earth, humans have…
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Age of Wood as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This book changed my perspective on human history. Ennos mixes history and science to tell a sweeping tale about how our relationship with wood enormously influenced civilization.
I love the way Ennos takes readers all over the world—to its forests and cities—to trace this fascinating true story. He goes all that way back to our origins to show that discovering how to use wood propelled us forward. This is a wonderful book that serves as a reminder of just how critical materials are to humanity and how learning how to best employ them has propelled us forward.
From Peter's list on for passionate innovators.
It is easy to imagine that in the Stone Age, stone tools were the critical thing, that in the Bronze Age, bronze tools were the critical thing, and so on. The truth is that right up until very recent times, most of our technology was made from wood. Even before modern humans evolved, we were deeply shaped by the physical realities of wood, and the challenges and opportunities it provides. Large animals that live in trees need big brains and spatial awareness to avoid falling to their death, and the habitations of early humans were surely closely related to the…
From Luke's list on grand, unifying ideas for how the world works.
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