American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree"In prose as strong and quietly beautiful as the American chestnut itself, Susan Freinkel profiles the silent catastrophe of a near-extinction and the impassioned struggle to bring a species back from the brink. Freinkel is a rare hybrid: equally fluid and in command as a science writer and a chronicler of historical events, and graced with the poise and skill to seamlessly graft these talents together. A perfect book."—Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Spook "A spellbinding, heart wrenching, and uplifting account of the American chestnut that asks the vastly important question: Have we learned enough, and do we care enough, to begin healing some of the wounds we've inflicted on the natural world?"—Scott Weidensaul, author of Return to Wild America and Mountains of the Heart "This is a beautifully written account of the passing of one of the botanical wonders of the North American landscape, the American chestnut tree, which was nearly extirpated by a plague that entered the ecosystem and swept these great trees away. Freinkel, a gifted writer whose research is impeccable and whose reporting is topnotch, tells of the impassioned work of scientists over the past century and up to today, trying to bring the American chestnut back from the brink of extinction. Only a person in love with trees could have written this lovely book."—Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Wild Trees "Graceful, provocative, and inspiring. Thoreau would be proud."—Alan Burdick, author of Out of Eden, a 2005 National Book Award finalist "In this beautifully written volume, Susan Freinkel ably describes the marriage of science and passion that is being brought to bear to save this majestic American tree from extinction. The people whose ancestors lived among chestnut trees and their places come alive for the reader, as does the appearance and spread of the blight and the heroes who are struggling with it today. The book concludes with a tantalizing vision of chestnuts in the forests again—a thought of making the world right where it has gone wrong."—Peter H. Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
A New Scourge | 28 |
A Whole World Dying | 71 |
Rolling the Dice | 93 |
Evil Tendencies Cancel | 108 |
Let Us Plant | 129 |
Chestnut 2 0 | 151 |
Faith in a Seed | 178 |
Notes | 229 |
Acknowledgments | 273 |
Other editions - View all
American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree Susan Freinkel Limited preview - 2007 |
American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree Susan Freinkel Limited preview - 2009 |
American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree Susan Freinkel Limited preview - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Agricultural American Chestnut Foundation American Chestnut Foundation's American chestnut tree backcross backcross breeding bark began bioengineering biotechnology Blight Commission blight fungus blight resistance breeders breeding program Burnham called cankers Carleton Castanea century chest Chestnut Blight chestnut researcher chestnut restoration Chestnut Tree Blight chestnut trees Chinese chestnuts Clapper crops Cryphonectria parasitica decades Diller disease early efforts environmental Experiment farm farmers fight forest trees Forestry Fulbright fungal fungus Gary Griffin genes genetic Gravatt Graves growing Hebard hybrids hypovirulence Ibid Japanese chestnuts Journal land look Maynard Meadows of Dan Metcalf million mountain Murrill native natural North nuts orchard pandemic parasite pathogen Patrick County perfect tree Phytophthora Phytophthora cinnamomi plant poplar Powell Report Rutter Sandra Anagnostakis says scientists seeds southern Appalachian species spores spread sprouts stand story survive there's thousand timber told traits transgenic transgenic trees tree's U.S. Forest Service University USDA Virginia wild wood York