Comments on: Book review – The Wood Age: How One Material Shaped the Whole of Human History

By: Book review – The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 15:38:31 +0000

[…] to many. This fed into trade that supplied both natural resources that were easily overharvested (timber, fish, animal furs, and whale products) and luxury products from outside of Europe (e.g. silk, […]

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By: inquisitivebiologist

inquisitivebiologist — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 13:30:22 +0000

In reply to ad (@ad98832376).

Thanks for that link, looks like an interesting book.

Fuel is indeed another important use, though it is only discussed in the later chapters of this book. Interestingly, Ennos mentions coppicing both as an ancient practice providing the rods for wickerwork, but also a practice citizens nowadays could do to get out more and harvest their own firewood, rather than having councils pulp urban trees when they need to be trimmed back or removed.

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By: ad (@ad98832376)

ad (@ad98832376) — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 22:16:23 +0000

The other use of wood would seem to have been as an energy source, from coppiced woodlands, and suchlike. Indeed, Ruth Goodman wrote a book called The Domestic Revolution about (in large part) how awful coal was as a replacement: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Domestic-Revolution-Ruth-Goodman/dp/1782438505/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

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By: inquisitivebiologist

inquisitivebiologist — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 20:20:08 +0000

In reply to Andreas.

That is actually the same book. It was first published in the US by Scribner as “The Age of Wood” and then in Europe by HarperCollins as “The Wood Age”.

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By: Andreas

Andreas — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 19:48:12 +0000

Last year, he published „The Age of Wood“. I wonder how much overlap there is.

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