Details
Synopsis
Hidden away in foggy, uncharted rain forest valleys in Northern California are the tallest organisms the world has ever sustained--the coast redwood trees. 96% of the ancient redwood forests have been logged, but the fragments that remain are among the great wonders of nature. The biggest redwoods can rise more than thirty-five stories above the ground, forming cathedral-like structures in the air. Until recently, the canopy at the tops of these majestic trees was undiscovered. Writer Preston unfolds the story of the daring botanists and amateur naturalists that found a lost world above California, dangerous, hauntingly beautiful, and unexplored. The deep redwood canopy is a vertical Eden filled with mosses, lichens, spotted salamanders, hanging gardens of ferns, and thickets of huckleberry bushes, all growing out of massive trunk systems, sometimes hollowed out by fire. Thick layers of soil sitting on limbs harbor animal and plant life unknown to science.--From publisher description., Richard Preston, author of the bestselling disease thriller THE HOT ZONE, turns back to nonfiction with this compelling look at one of Earth's largest living things, the magnificent Redwoods of Northern California, and at the people who have become obsessed with studying and climbing them.
| Size | | Length: | 294 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 20.0 oz |
Industry Reviews
"[T]he thoughtful and engaging narrative is informed by a satisfying touch of spirituality...."
(04/13/2007)
"Mr Preston's elegant narrative avoids scientific jargon but reveals the passion that scientists have for the ecosystem of the redwood canopy....[He] brings to life the mystery and majesty of these giant wonders of the botanical world."
(04/14/2007)
"[Richard Preston] has written an exciting book about botany (sic) that...combines the thrill of exploration with the quirkiness of those who choose it as their lives' work."
(04/19/2007)
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