The Secret Wisdom of Nature: Trees, Animals, and the Extraordinary Balance of All Living Things; Stories from Science and Obs

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 857 ratings

Price: 13.62

Last update: 09-01-2024


About this item

The final audiobook in the Mysteries of Nature trilogy by the New York Times best-selling author of The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben.

Nature is full of surprises - deciduous trees affect the rotation of the Earth, cranes sabotage the production of Iberian ham, and coniferous forests can make it rain - but what are the processes that drive these incredible phenomena? And why do they matter?

In The Secret Wisdom of Nature, master storyteller and international sensation Peter Wohlleben takes listeners on a thought-provoking exploration of the vast natural systems that make life on Earth possible. In this tour of an almost unfathomable world, Wohlleben describes the fascinating interplay between animals and plants and answers such questions as "How do they influence each other?", "Do lifeforms communicate across species boundaries?", and "What happens when this finely tuned system gets out of sync?".

By introducing us to the latest scientific discoveries and recounting his own insights from decades of observing nature, one of the world's most famous foresters shows us how to recapture our sense of awe so we can see the world around us with completely new eyes.


Top reviews from the United States

Attachment+Logic=Mind
5.0 out of 5 stars What is important is the connection between living people of each speecies
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2024
My doctoral work is in Ataachment and Logic: the necessary and sufficient conditions for the mind. In human beings, left and right hemispheres specialize in one or the other. But the rettina of the eye, which many species have, regardless of varieties of brain structure and function, is part of the brain that migrated to its location, the eye, a very long time ago. Stephen Suomi's work with monkey mothers and babies makes it immensely clear that retina to retina, brain to brain contact, is the most powerful experience in a baby's life. These books connect trees and virus, insect, fungi, wow! The whole 8yards. This is as it should be. We do not yet know how attachment is communicated without retinas although his books make clear we are going to find out in time if we have time.
I mourn deeply for the damage we've done to our partners in creating life on earth. How greatly we have betrayed our mission here, we human beings whose minds are losing ground, losing connection. Electronic systems as should be clear from these books are pathetic and limited in comparison to the richness, diversity and beauty of life. We need to appreciate other minds far more and place electronic systems on leave. They have been weaponized, they have been developed for the purpose of creating addictions, loss of control, people!
These books can give us a peek at the vast material we are losing through our greed and failure to look one another in the eye and express our minds. The ricjhness of the huuman mind and the monds of others is so much richer than what electronics allow. I grieve lost for the loss of mind human beings suffer today in the United States. Here electronics are most rapacious. I have not watched television, listened to a radio, read a newspaper, eaten fish, etc since I was 18 years old. My parents died yound and witless of alcoholism. I sensed the danger in electronic systems and I stayed clear. I learn from people, birds, other animals, and school, reading, books. I do not feel in the least impovershed!
These books are suerb. They will give the mind that is oppen a glimpse of far more.
CallMeMic
5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2024
Another great book by this author. Hard to put down and easy to put on the shelf for another read.
Aran Joseph Canes
4.0 out of 5 stars Science which Entertains and Resonates
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2019
If you like the style of previous Peter Wohlleben books then you will enjoy The Secret Wisdom of Nature. Choosing ecosystems for its theme, the book is more united by conveying scientifically valid facts with emotional resonance than by a strict focus on its subject. This is not to say that the book has no larger themes. Only that whether one likes the book will be less determined by virtue of its conclusions than by whether one likes anecdotal science.

Essentially, Wohlleben aims for depicting the incredible amount of interconnectedness and homeostasis that takes part at the macro level between plants and animals. Thus, we learn of the effects of bacteria thousands of feet under the earth as well as the perennial Wohllebenian theme of the tragedy of the loss of old growth forests.

While the material will not be as surprising to readers as the science in the Hidden Life of Trees this doesn’t mean that it is uninteresting or not worth reading.

And Wohlleben’s larger theme that macro-level ecosystems are so complex that it is best if we simply try to limit the effects of our species as much as possible—rather than intervene to recreate older biological homeostases—is well-argued and relevant to present day environmentalism.

I cannot say my worldview was transformed by this book, but I can say I was not only entertained but educated to have more informed opinions on environmental issues. His realistic but optimistic approach to handling such problems in the Anthropocene era is a refreshing change from more alarmist perspectives.

In short, there are no real faults in the book just less material than the Hidden Life of Trees which will completely surprise the reader. It’s worth adding the perspective, tone and information in this book to one’s outlook on nature.
Dan Bryan
5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of cool connections
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2024
A great read. This talks a lot about how one species going away or overpopulating can have a lot of ripple effects elsewhere. It also has a lot of cool factoids and trivia about nature and its species.
Stanley
5.0 out of 5 stars Unintended Consequences
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2019
The Secret Wisdom of Nature is the third in author Wohlleben's trilogy. The first dealt with trees and the second with animals. Both were marvelous in the way science and Wohlleben's anecdotes were interwoven into enjoyable and easy to read text. That's nothing to say of his great knowledge, much learned by first hand observation, of our physical world. Secret Wisdom is written in the same manner with the same surprising facts, e.g. killing wolves in Yellowstone caused erosion along riverbanks. Huh!? Yes it's true. On page 167 the author writes, "Does that sound complicated? I think so too."

The real emphasis on the third book is the effect people have had on the environment and surprisingly it seems that even actions meant to help often have deleterious effects. Germans have made an effort to feed roe deer helping them make it through hard winters. Now there are more deer than ever and of course the effect on woodlands is not the best as the browsers are doing what they do best.

There's a dark side to human activity as well. It seems our success as a species is based in part on our ability and willingness to kill anything that flies, swims, crawls, or walks. But putting that aside our complete domination of the planet, even when well intentioned, can have unintended consequences. Let me add a personal note. This winter was very cold with record setting snow. We decided to feed wild turkeys to get them though the winter. The 105 turkeys are doing fine but they have scared off the crows, blue jays, and woodpeckers. By helping one specie we have probably hurt others. This is much of what Wohlleben writes.

Same size book as first two with same paper and same size print. Maybe not as good as first two books (they were really ,really good) but I'm still glad I bought it. Recommended.

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