GINGKO by Peter Crane.

A wonderful book, which I have been leisurely reading for about a month, and finished today... it is a comforting book about the oldest tree on earth, the Gingko. Inspired by the historic gingko in London's Kew Gardens, since the 1760s (18th c) it is the story of saving a species from extinction.  In part we are dedicated to the employment of gingkos in the gardens of temples in Japan and China.  I recall that the other attraction other than the temple was always the "ancient" majestic tree, oftentimes a Gingko in the yard of the temple in China.   I met some of the greatest and oldest trees in the world in China. Botanist Peter Crane, former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, is now a Dean and Professor in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University, who published this collection....he explores  the 250 million year history of the ginkgo from its mysterious origin through its proliferation, drastic decline and ultimate resurgence.  He also highlights the cultural and social significance of the gingko citing its appearance in Chinese poetry, in artworks, in temples, in artistic and religious expression.  A beautiful and rich work for anyone who loves trees and has found comfort and shelter in them as have I since I was a child...and went off to create "houses " in the forest...and rescue wild rabbits...Crane goes on to describe the medicincal and nutritional uses.  I can appreciate this, as I have started to take a dose of Bilbao Gingko as it is supposed to be good for cognitive function while one ages. It is just a splendid book.  It was shortlisted for the 2014 Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science and Named a Best Science book of 2013 by the New Scientist. Let me quote the last lines to show you why, in part. :

These timescales - hours, days, or even a few years - contrast with the timescales of gingko's life story.  Hundreds, thousands, millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of years:  these spans are not easy for us to grasp, but they are perhaps more relevant to the way we should think about ourselves, and our true place in the world. They should make a pause.  Trees help calibrate the speed of current environmental change: they provide a context more in tune with the tempo of the Earth.  They slow us down, they provide a context more in tune with the tempo of the Earth.  They slow us down, they teach us the virtue of patience, and they remind us to think about all that has gone before and what is to come; the legacy we received and the legacy that we will leave. The modern -day mantra of more, better, faster is all very well; but followed unthinkingly it is a recipe for disaster.  Trees, especially trees like gingko, which connect us to the deep history of our planet, ask us to reflect more often and think more carefully about all we lost when the short view rules our world and everything in it.    Legacy. Ch 37   In the previous chapter, 36, GIFT, the last sentence is a sentence from a friend of the author, "Paul Falkowski:  "Our destiny lies in understanding that humility leads to enlightenment and that hubris leads to extinction."