Review
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"This intelligent, literate history is so enticing it will leave
you greedy for more."—Dominique Browning, New York Times Book
Review
"You might think you’d have to be a scholarly sort of tree hugger
to wrap your mind around GINKGO: The Tree That Time Forgot, by
Peter Crane, but this intelligent, literate history is so
enticing it will leave you greedy for more."—Dominique Browning,
New York Times Book Review
"It’s a personable story, as Crane examines the fossil record
seeking to trace the ’s evolution and the tree’s cultural
impact."—The Chicago Tribune
"Ginkgo cranei, an extinct species of the family, is named after
the author who lived beside the UK’s oldest Ginkgo while he was
director of Kew Gardens. This qualification is dwarfed by the
depth of Crane’s knowledge and the sparkle of his prose. He also
reminds us why conservation matters: 'Letting species go extinct
when we have the power to intervene is like letting a library
burn just when we are learning how to read.'"—Jane Owen, The
Financial Times
"An entertaining introduction to botanical lore."—Kirkus Reviews
"Among a clutch of new books, Ginkgo has all the right
ingredients. It is one of those rare works written by a scholar
whose passion for his subject makes you want to go out and hug a
ginkgo--or at least seek one out to examine it more closely."—New
Scientist
"Readers of this fascinating history will be glad to know there
is at least one life-form that owes its survival, not its
destruction, to humans."—Scientific American
"After reading this captivating book, you will never simply just
look at a tree of any species again, and most certainly not a
ginkgo, without pondering its cultural importance, how it came to
be growing in this place at this time, and its reproductive
biology, economic uses, and phylogenetic position."—J. C.
McElwain, Science
"Highly recommended."―Choice
"Apart from covering all the main aspects of the biology, growth,
history and cultivation of Ginkgo, it includes a fascinating
account of the study of fossil s and of the personalities
involved . . . This is a delightful book to read, alike to
botanists and to anyone with an interest in trees."—Martyn Rix,
Curtis’s Botanical Magazine
"Encyclopedic in breadth and depth, this 'global biography' of
the ginkgo is an elegant account infused with the writer’s sense
of wonderment for his subject. Reading it will likely make you
seek out the nearest specimen to appreciate it anew."—Key
Reporter
A Best Science Book of 2013, New Scientist
Shortlisted for the 2014 Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science
"This engaging book uses Ginkgo as a point of departure to
examine a wide range of topics—the history of botanical
exploration in China and Japan, as well as anatomy,
physiology, evolution, extinction, and conservation. . . . It is
both scholarly and accessible."—Scott Wing, Smithsonian
Institution
"Ginkgo takes a place among the best books on s that I have
had the pleasure of reading. It provides an extremely interesting
account of a remarkable through space, time, and
culture."—Peter H. Raven, President Emeritus, Missouri Botanical
Garden
"My favorite Ginkgo is the iconic 'over my dead body' in Hibiya
Park in Tokyo. Peter Crane’s book will enchant both experts and
newcomers to these splendid s."—Robert M May, University of
Oxford
"Peter Crane provides a compelling and definitive portrait of the
Tree That Time Forgot: its ancient lineage, its natural history,
and history interwoven with people . . . an eye-opening page
turner about the Ginkgo in particular and trees in general. A
triumph of beautifully written scholarship."—Thomas E. Lovejoy,
University Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, George
Mason University
"A remarkable book about a remarkable tree that came through from
the age of the dinosaurs in one corner of China, and has now
repopulated parks and gardens all over the world. An important
biography of the ultimate survivor."—Richard Fortey, author of
Horseshoe Crabs & Velvet Worms
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About the Author
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Peter Crane is Carl W. Knobloch Jr. Dean and professor, School of
Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, and former
director of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. He divides his
time between Oak Park, IL, and New Haven, CT.
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