Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: This book is a worthwhile and fun read for anyone who has any interest in natural history. Tom, in his words, practices forest forensics. I would add that he does so with absolute precision. Read this book at least twice! You are certain to enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This book is a worthwhile and fun read for anyone who has any interest in natural history. Tom, in his words, practices forest forensics. I would add that he does so with absolute precision. Read this book at least twice! You are certain to enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This book provides an excellent introduction to forest ecology. Wessels begins each chapter with an etching that captures a typical feature of northern forest. He then guides us to understanding what one can learn from the etching through asking key questions and making more detailed observations. The book focuses on central New England forests, which he defines as reaching roughly from the Southern half of Vermont to the Northern half of Massachusetts, and stretching eastwards to the coast of Maine. The book will help even beginners understand more about the forests surrounding them, although it helps if readers can at least recognize a beech tree from a maple or a pine before they start. The book is full of so many details that one reading through it is not enough; this is a book to dip into over and over again as one explores the forest. The book includes a number of useful appendices, covering such varied topics as a chronology of New England history, key kinds of evidence to look for in the woods, common woody and non-woody plants, a glossary, and a bibliography.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This book provides an excellent introduction to forest ecology. Wessels begins each chapter with an etching that captures a typical feature of northern forest. He then guides us to understanding what one can learn from the etching through asking key questions and making more detailed observations. The book focuses on central New England forests, which he defines as reaching roughly from the Southern half of Vermont to the Northern half of Massachusetts, and stretching eastwards to the coast of Maine. The book will help even beginners understand more about the forests surrounding them, although it helps if readers can at least recognize a beech tree from a maple or a pine before they start. The book is full of so many details that one reading through it is not enough; this is a book to dip into over and over again as one explores the forest. The book includes a number of useful appendices, covering such varied topics as a chronology of New England history, key kinds of evidence to look for in the woods, common woody and non-woody plants, a glossary, and a bibliography.
Rating: 
Summary: Gives a new meaning to "Wanta see my etchings?"
Review: This brief and readable book advertises upfront that it focuses on New England, but I believe it will benefit anyone who wants to understand and interpret temperate forest landscapes anywhere. The book is a series of chapters focusing on different topics. Each chapter is headed by an etching of a particular scene. The chapter explores all the small minutiae of the scene, and instructs you in recognizing what they can tell you about it. Some of the things you can learn about (specific to New England in some cases) include: What the size of the rocks in a stone fence tells you about past land use; what the number of dead trees in an abandoned beaver pond can tell you; the meaning of a group of gnarled, twisted, and stunted apple trees in a field. The only thing that restrains my enthusiasm about the book is it's great strength--The etchings. I'd prefer to see photographs, particularly detailed closeups of some of the things discussed. The book contains blowups of portions of the etchings, and these do help. But I'd like to see the etchings supplemented by photos of real occurrences, showing real color.
Nevertheless, highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Gives a new meaning to "Wanta see my etchings?"
Review: This brief and readable book advertises upfront that it focuses on New England, but I believe it will benefit anyone who wants to understand and interpret temperate forest landscapes anywhere. The book is a series of chapters focusing on different topics. Each chapter is headed by an etching of a particular scene. The chapter explores all the small minutiae of the scene, and instructs you in recognizing what they can tell you about it. Some of the things you can learn about (specific to New England in some cases) include: What the size of the rocks in a stone fence tells you about past land use; what the number of dead trees in an abandoned beaver pond can tell you; the meaning of a group of gnarled, twisted, and stunted apple trees in a field. The only thing that restrains my enthusiasm about the book is it's great strength--The etchings. I'd prefer to see photographs, particularly detailed closeups of some of the things discussed. The book contains blowups of portions of the etchings, and these do help. But I'd like to see the etchings supplemented by photos of real occurrences, showing real color.
Nevertheless, highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A most excellent book!
Review: This is a fascinating piece of writing, beautifully illustrated, and full of thought-provoking ideas. Wessels does an excellent job of leading the reader through a historical/natural historical approach to understanding portions of the New England landscape. The book is a mixture of "how to" guide and a basket of intriguing facts. My one quibble is that the author is still fixated on a somewhat '70's view of "ecosystems" and "succession" -although he does allow a refreshing degree of indeterminism to creep in on occasion. Other than that this is a must read for any regional ecologist!
Rating:
Summary: I could read this book all day long.
Review: This is a great book and gives a wonderful history about theNew England landscape. It is full of informative information yet is an entertaining read. It is hard to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Great stories share a valuable insight
Review: This is a wonderful book that teaches a very fundamental lesson about real world systems, forests in particular. Most books about nature teach how to name or identify things; those books teach you words. Some books tell stories about a species or a metric like heat or energy; those books teach you sentences and paragraphs. Very few books give you structure around which the entire thing begins to form a whole text and this is one of those very rare books. It's title is perfect. The lesson about systems this book teaches is that when you encounter a system it will be marked by the major events of it's past and that those marks will determine to a very large extent it's structure. If you can read those marks everything sorts into place around them. A forest is the perfect place for this lesson since it's big and old enough that the major events are each unto themselves a great story: storms, fires, genocide, and economic upheavals. It's a transforming experience to read this book and then stand in the silent forest glade and realize that the entire vista is the echo of a economic fad, a winter storm, and fast moving fire. This book is like a delightful collection of short mysteries. Each chapter begins with a picture, the scene of a crime if you will. Something happened, something big, maybe more than one thing. But it's not like a mystery. After reading about a perverse parson you don't understand the deep secret of many passing parsons. But here, suddenly every white pine you pass has a secret and you know it! Oh what stories you get to tell.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: Tom's clear concise ability to look through a landscape using a slightly non-traditional lens makes this book a winner. He really knows his stuff and is a wealth of information. If you ever get a chance to join him in the field, do so! It's excellent to see how he applies what he knows and sees.
|
