The Secret Wisdom Of Nature: Trees, Animals, And The Extraordinary Balance Of All Living Things -― Stories From Science And Observation (The Mysteries Of Nature, 3) By Peter…

I read this book slowly over time, returning to where I had left off. I have been trained in an applied science (agriculture) and enjoy reading about humankind and nature although my attitude is not as positive as that of the author. This is the first book of his that I have read and I look forward to his others.

My doctoral work is in Ataachment and Logic: the necessary and sufficient conditions for the mind. In human beings, left and right hemispheres specialize in one or the other. But the rettina of the eye, which many species have, regardless of varieties of brain structure and function, is part of the brain that migrated to its location, the eye, a very long time ago. Stephen Suomi’s work with monkey mothers and babies makes it immensely clear that retina to retina, brain to brain contact, is the most powerful experience in a baby’s life. These books connect trees and virus, insect, fungi, wow! The whole 8yards. This is as it should be. We do not yet know how attachment is communicated without retinas although his books make clear we are going to find out in time if we have time.
I mourn deeply for the damage we’ve done to our partners in creating life on earth. How greatly we have betrayed our mission here, we human beings whose minds are losing ground, losing connection. Electronic systems as should be clear from these books are pathetic and limited in comparison to the richness, diversity and beauty of life. We need to appreciate other minds far more and place electronic systems on leave. They have been weaponized, they have been developed for the purpose of creating addictions, loss of control, people!
These books can give us a peek at the vast material we are losing through our greed and failure to look one another in the eye and express our minds. The ricjhness of the huuman mind and the monds of others is so much richer than what electronics allow. I grieve lost for the loss of mind human beings suffer today in the United States. Here electronics are most rapacious. I have not watched television, listened to a radio, read a newspaper, eaten fish, etc since I was 18 years old. My parents died yound and witless of alcoholism. I sensed the danger in electronic systems and I stayed clear. I learn from people, birds, other animals, and school, reading, books. I do not feel in the least impovershed!
These books are suerb. They will give the mind that is oppen a glimpse of far more.

If you like the style of previous Peter Wohlleben books then you will enjoy The Secret Wisdom of Nature. Choosing ecosystems for its theme, the book is more united by conveying scientifically valid facts with emotional resonance than by a strict focus on its subject. This is not to say that the book has no larger themes. Only that whether one likes the book will be less determined by virtue of its conclusions than by whether one likes anecdotal science.

Essentially, Wohlleben aims for depicting the incredible amount of interconnectedness and homeostasis that takes part at the macro level between plants and animals. Thus, we learn of the effects of bacteria thousands of feet under the earth as well as the perennial Wohllebenian theme of the tragedy of the loss of old growth forests.

While the material will not be as surprising to readers as the science in the Hidden Life of Trees this doesn’t mean that it is uninteresting or not worth reading.

And Wohlleben’s larger theme that macro-level ecosystems are so complex that it is best if we simply try to limit the effects of our species as much as possible—rather than intervene to recreate older biological homeostases—is well-argued and relevant to present day environmentalism.

I cannot say my worldview was transformed by this book, but I can say I was not only entertained but educated to have more informed opinions on environmental issues. His realistic but optimistic approach to handling such problems in the Anthropocene era is a refreshing change from more alarmist perspectives.

In short, there are no real faults in the book just less material than the Hidden Life of Trees which will completely surprise the reader. It’s worth adding the perspective, tone and information in this book to one’s outlook on nature.

A great read. This talks a lot about how one species going away or overpopulating can have a lot of ripple effects elsewhere. It also has a lot of cool factoids and trivia about nature and its species.

A great book to understand how nature works.