Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of our Future with Daniel Lewis

Lewis' book is a story about transformation and survival in the face of a planet confronting the most rapid environmental changes in human history, told through twelve trees from around the world. Each of these trees has been on a long journey with humans, going from abundance to decline to resurrection—and each has a particular relationship with our changing climate. Although refracted through a lens of endangerment and the the risk of extinction, this is a positive story, full of potential as well as peril, and a close look, tree by tree, at the inherent, beautiful uncertainty of the living world. It’s a pitched battle between loss and life, struck through with surprises. 

This lecture will be facilitated online only. To receive a link, please register via Microsoft Teams HERE.

Please be aware that upon registering, you will receive an email from USNH to confirm that registration was successful. 

Daniel Lewis is the Huntington Library’s Senior Curator for the History of Science and Technology. He holds the PhD in History, and has had post-doctoral appointments at Oxford University, the Smithsonian, and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich. He is also an environmental historian and college professor, with a faculty appointment at Caltech, where he teaches courses in environmental history and humanities. His tree book, which came out this past March, was published by Simon & Schuster. Chapters have been excerpted in Time magazine, the Smithsonian magazine, Scientific American, the Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. There are also two different Chinese translations of the book underway. This is his fourth book.