Until the ascendancy of fossil fuels, wood has been the principal fuel and building material from the dawn of civilization. As John Perlin argues in his 1986 classic, A Forest Journey, wood’s abundance or scarcity greatly shaped, the culture, demographics, economy, internal and external politics, and technology of successive societies over the millennia. Considered a modern masterpiece, Perlin’s book was just rereleased by outdoor company Patagonia in hardcover earlier this year. The book's comprehensive coverage of the major role forests played in human life, have gained it recognition as one of Harvard's "One-Hundred Great Books."
John Perlin is an author, lecturer and consultant who specializes in solar energy and forest preservation. His books include A Golden Thread and From Space to Earth: The Story of Solar Electricity. He’s a visiting scholar in physics at UC Santa Barbara.
