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73 reviews for:
The Age of Wood: Mankind's Most Useful Material and the Construction of Civilization
Roland Ennos
3.55 AVERAGE
73 reviews for:
The Age of Wood: Mankind's Most Useful Material and the Construction of Civilization
Roland Ennos
3.55 AVERAGE
Kind of interesting to start, meandered in the middle, lost me in the end.
Learned quite a bit about the uses of wood and forestry and European and American history and the history of technology. I quite enjoy histories that focus on a key resource and tell a story around it. This was rather popular maybe ten years ago and sprouted a minor fad. However these histories are quite good. It connects the reader to a mundane material and connects it to the larger human story. Anyway good book.
I am a sucker for nonfiction books about the history of a raw resource, and this hit the spot. Between this and [a:Mark Kurlansky|1847|Mark Kurlansky|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1271210730p2/1847.jpg]'s [b:Paper: Paging Through History|32191697|Paper Paging Through History|Mark Kurlansky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1496767985l/32191697._SY75_.jpg|45434938], you're all set for the lovely history of the uses of wood and paper and their transformative effect on history.
Aproximei-me deste livro por causa da capa, mas também porque sei o quão importante tem sido a madeira para a nossa história e evolução enquanto espécie. Desse modo, quando vi o comparativo com Sapiens de Harari, pensei que seria um livro que nos iria levar ao longo da história por meio de uma perspectiva centrada na madeira. Mas não. Apesar do autor aparentar tentar, não é isso que acontece. Temos um livro carregado de informação sobre madeira, a sua constituição, densidades, proveniências, etc. Tudo temas interessantes, mas para os quais não tenho qualquer bagagem que me permita entender o que vai sendo dito. A meio do livro comecei a desligar, e li o resto em diagonal.
Julgo que o problema é meu, e não do autor. Eu percebo demasiado pouco de madeira para poder chegar ao que o autor vai expondo. Desse modo, a leitura acabou a servir-me na análise de um tópico do meu trabalho, o engajamento.
O engajamento, ou envolvimento, só pode acontecer quando os artefactos, neste caso o livro, conseguem acionar em nós conhecimentos pré-existentes. A ligação entre o que os artefactos contam, e aquilo que já conhecemos, cria uma relação de ideias capaz de produzir novos significados na mente do leitor, captando assim a atenção, o interesse, acabando a produzir engajamento.
Julgo que o problema é meu, e não do autor. Eu percebo demasiado pouco de madeira para poder chegar ao que o autor vai expondo. Desse modo, a leitura acabou a servir-me na análise de um tópico do meu trabalho, o engajamento.
O engajamento, ou envolvimento, só pode acontecer quando os artefactos, neste caso o livro, conseguem acionar em nós conhecimentos pré-existentes. A ligação entre o que os artefactos contam, e aquilo que já conhecemos, cria uma relação de ideias capaz de produzir novos significados na mente do leitor, captando assim a atenção, o interesse, acabando a produzir engajamento.
Great perspective in the closing chapters about how modern societies are at risk increased mental health problems when people lack feeling some connection to the local, physical world. Learning about forestry or just the trees in out own own little habitats can help with that. Let’s get out there and build something, people!
I also loved the pictures at the end to help me visualize what was described in the text. Great book!
I also loved the pictures at the end to help me visualize what was described in the text. Great book!
informative
medium-paced
Excellent survey of the ways wood influences our lives. Can get buried into minutae about shipbuilding but lots of the details are fascinating. It a fan of explorations of objects and how they impact history it is enjoyable
Reading this was like listening to a story from my uncle Milo. There is so much irrelevant detail, the book was an absolute chore to read. The author’s style is way too academic for my tastes. I think this suffered from a lack of storytelling prowess that have made some other single-subject histories (looking at you, Longitude) much more compelling reads. There was much more general anthropology in this than I was expecting as well which left me feeling the author was really working hard to hit a page count. I will say, in all honesty, most people don’t love anything as much as this guys loves wood.
Given the title, surprisingly focused on humans and human development, especially with regard to building materials. Super informative but still highly narrative.
informative
relaxing
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced