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Finding the Mother Tree

Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest

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Finding the Mother Tree

Written by: Suzanne Simard
Narrated by: Suzanne Simard
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NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest—a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery

Finding the Mother Tree reminds us that the world is a web of stories, connecting us to one another. [The book] carries the stories of trees, fungi, soil and bears—and of a human being listening in on the conversation. The interplay of personal narrative, scientific insights and the amazing revelations about the life of the forest make a compelling story.”—Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass

Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide.

In this, her first book, now available in audio, Simard brings us into her world, the intimate world of the trees, in which she brilliantly illuminates the fascinating and vital truths—that trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complicated, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own.

Simard writes—in inspiring, illuminating, and accessible ways—how trees, living side by side for hundreds of years, have evolved, how they learn and adapt their behaviors, recognize neighbors, compete and cooperate with one another with sophistication, characteristics ascribed to human intelligence, traits that are the essence of civil societies—and at the center of it all, the Mother Trees: the mysterious, powerful forces that connect and sustain the others that surround them.

And Simard writes of her own life, born and raised into a logging world in the rainforests of British Columbia, of her days as a child spent cataloging the trees from the forest and how she came to love and respect them. And as she writes of her scientific quest, she writes of her own journey, making us understand how deeply human scientific inquiry exists beyond data and technology, that it is about understanding who we are and our place in the world.

©2021 Suzanne Simard (P)2021 Random House Audio
Biological Sciences Environment Professionals & Academics Science Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Forest Wisdom
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What the critics say

*WINNER of the 2021 Banff Mountain Book Prize in Mountain Environment and Natural History*

*WINNER of the National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History Literature*

*WINNER of the 2022 BC and Yukon Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award*

*SHORTLISTED for the 2022 BC and Yukon Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Book Prize*

*SHORTLISTED for the 2021 Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Book Award*

*FINALIST for the 2023 SCWES Book Awards*

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

One of:

Vogue's "13 Books to Help You Reconnect with Nature"

Electric Lit’s “7 Books by Women Writers About Humanity’s Relationship to Trees”

“Simard has spent decades with her hands in the soil, designing experiments and piecing together the remarkable mysteries of forest ecology . . . elegantly detailed . . . deeply personal . . . A testament to Simard’s skill as a science communicator. Her research is clearly defined, the steps of her experiments articulated, her astonishing results explained and the implications laid bare: We ignore the complexity of forests at our peril.”The New York Times

“Simard’s memoir describes the intersecting webs of her career and private life that brought her to rewrite not only the forestry canon but our understanding of nature itself. She is an intellectual force whose powerful ideas overshadow her name . . . Like Charles Darwin’s findings, Simard’s results are so revolutionary and controversial that they have quickly worked their way into social theory, urban planning, culture and art. Simard’s work knocked 19th-century notions of inevitable competition off their pedestals. If a forest is a commons where the fate of the weakest is tied to that of the strongest, then we have a lot of rethinking to do.”The Washington Post

“[Simard] shares the wisdom of a life of listening to the forest . . . a scientific memoir as gripping as any HBO drama series.”The Observer

What listeners say about Finding the Mother Tree

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Excellent book! Should be mandatory reading. Such vital research that contiunes to advance our understanding of the interconnectivity of not only forest ecosystems but how all species on the planet are connected

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We can learn from the trees….

This book is an amazing story about a woman’s journey to understand the inner workings of the forest. The parallels to her own life and humanity in general are fantastic

I loved this book and now I’m wondering how I can use this information to better my own annal patch of paradise.

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Suzanne Simard could save us all

If key world leaders would listen and give serious regard the information found in this book we just might have a hope in hell of saving the planet.

Thank you for your life's work Suzanne

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Absolutely brilliantl!

This might be my favourite book ever! I just finished and I’m going to start again from the beginning as I really want to understand the science better. The surprise for me were the human parallels to forest communication and health and one health issue in particular that I could completely relate to. I just love this brave, brilliant woman!

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    4 out of 5 stars

Suzanne is a modern day Rachel Carson

I found this book to be a bit more science than I expected, and I am not positive the author was the best choice to read it. However the content is brilliant! I have so much admiration for the field work that undeniably proves trees are intelligent, social creatures - beyond our capacity to fully appreciate. The title itself drew me in. 3/4 of the way into it I was so hooked on where it was going and the book did not disappoint in that regard.

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Must read

Incredible delivery of a truth everyone should know. Engaging story with a deep explanation to how humans, trees and fauna are dependent of each other.

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Must listen - Epic and raw tale of Suzanne’s journey

Magnificent, heartfelt story of Suzanne’s journey to discover the Mother Tree concept and how magically interconnected life can be in the diverse ecosystems surrounding us. Thank you for your passion, dedication and curiosity, and for sharing this wonderful story with us.

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It was so good!

At times it was a bit hard to follow (a lot of terms I didn't understand) but I loved the process of her journey and hearing how her personal life reflected in her work and understanding of the world!

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Hopeful book that will remain one of my favourites

I’ve been unable to understand why the forest industry continues to clear cut forests. This book gave me much needed hope for our world. I expect the research highlighted in this book (and continuing research) will eventually awaken the policy makers who will introduce better forestry practices.

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Important

Such an inspiring read. May be about scientific work but also contains insight on life, love, self-discovery and resilience. Talks about universal struggles (internal and external) that many people (especially women) face in the tender balance of life.

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