A Splintered History of Wood

One of the gifts I received from my wife on my 60th birthday is Spike Carlsen's A Splintered History of Wood. It is the kind of book you could read all the way through, or just open a chapter for a quick round of diversion from the pressing weight of the news. In any case, it illustrates how deeply indebted we are to wood as a material for survival and for the creative expression of our most human qualities. Spike Carlsen makes the point early in the book that we would not have developed as human beings without wood. I would add that wood is kind of like the hands. We would not have become the species we are without the development of hands. Now put hands on wood. For some of us, that simple situation allows us to express and experience the essence of our humanity.