Finding the Mother Tree

Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest

By: Suzanne Simard

Narrated by: Suzanne Simard

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest—a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery

“Finding the Mother Tree reminds us that the world is a web of stories, connecting us to one another. [The book] carries the stories of trees, fungi, soil and bears—and of a human being listening in on the conversation. The interplay of personal narrative, scientific insights and the amazing revelations about the life of the forest make a compelling story.”—Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass

Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide.

In this, her first book, now available in audio, Simard brings us into her world, the intimate world of the trees, in which she brilliantly illuminates the fascinating and vital truths—that trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complicated, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own.

Simard writes—in inspiring, illuminating, and accessible ways—how trees, living side by side for hundreds of years, have evolved, how they learn and adapt their behaviors, recognize neighbors, compete and cooperate with one another with sophistication, characteristics ascribed to human intelligence, traits that are the essence of civil societies—and at the center of it all, the Mother Trees: the mysterious, powerful forces that connect and sustain the others that surround them.

And Simard writes of her own life, born and raised into a logging world in the rainforests of British Columbia, of her days as a child spent cataloging the trees from the forest and how she came to love and respect them. And as she writes of her scientific quest, she writes of her own journey, making us understand how deeply human scientific inquiry exists beyond data and technology, that it is about understanding who we are and our place in the world.

©2021 Suzanne Simard (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

*WINNER of the 2021 Banff Mountain Book Prize in Mountain Environment and Natural History*

*WINNER of the National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History Literature*

*WINNER of the 2022 BC and Yukon Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award*

*SHORTLISTED for the 2022 BC and Yukon Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Book Prize*

*SHORTLISTED for the 2021 Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Book Award*

*FINALIST for the 2023 SCWES Book Awards*

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

One of:

Vogue's "13 Books to Help You Reconnect with Nature"

Electric Lit’s “7 Books by Women Writers About Humanity’s Relationship to Trees”

“Simard has spent decades with her hands in the soil, designing experiments and piecing together the remarkable mysteries of forest ecology . . . elegantly detailed . . . deeply personal . . . A testament to Simard’s skill as a science communicator. Her research is clearly defined, the steps of her experiments articulated, her astonishing results explained and the implications laid bare: We ignore the complexity of forests at our peril.”—The New York Times

“Simard’s memoir describes the intersecting webs of her career and private life that brought her to rewrite not only the forestry canon but our understanding of nature itself. She is an intellectual force whose powerful ideas overshadow her name . . . Like Charles Darwin’s findings, Simard’s results are so revolutionary and controversial that they have quickly worked their way into social theory, urban planning, culture and art. Simard’s work knocked 19th-century notions of inevitable competition off their pedestals. If a forest is a commons where the fate of the weakest is tied to that of the strongest, then we have a lot of rethinking to do.”—The Washington Post

“[Simard] shares the wisdom of a life of listening to the forest . . . a scientific memoir as gripping as any HBO drama series.”—The Observer

Absolutely INSPIRING!!!

Dr. Simard beautifully weaved autobiography and scientific essay into a wonderfully inspiring novel of what is most amazing about our planet. Highly recommend!

Great Science and Message

Besides letting us know through numerous scientific experiments how trees and surrounding plants are connected with the consciousness of feeding, nourishing and needing each other, it is easy to correlate this much needed example onto that of human affairs.

I applaud this female scientist’s courage and tenacity and the sharing of not only her work, but her personal struggles and joys. Thank you.

Science and life story will speak to many

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in science and ecology recognizing that some will find it a bit detailed and laborious at times. Also so relevant to any academic who has struggled to find a place in the good ol' boy network this should give you hope and inspiration. I enjoyed the interweaving of the authors personal stories with her professional work. this is a story not often told.

Great Book

What a wonderful book! Thoroughly enjoyed the way Suzanne Simard combined botany with her personal story. A great read for anyone who believes that trees can communicate.

Revealing the living continuum

It was 1967, in northeast Thailand, among the Meo hill tribes, along the border of Laos.
It was a still point of just being there with the forest of enormous old growth Teak; enveloped in jungle when I first became aware of our profound relationship.
You have provided a branch in time; wherein we, as a species; will envision and come to know this planet, as a forested world.
“Sometimes you must go a long distance out of your way; in order to come back a short distance correctly.”
Edward Albee “The Zoo Story”
Mahalo

A must read.

Throughly enjoyed this book, something we were born knowing but forgot. Live fully, we are connected to everything.

the tale of mothers both tree and human

a deeply personal and also scientific of Simard’s quest to understand forest ecology. for anyone who loves trees and a must read for anyone interested in how to make policy of land management

Fascinating and Spiritual

A marvelous memoir! What an incredible woman. Science on the cutting edge, and men trying to put it down in the name of profit. Suzanne survives and excels.

Masterpiece

Personified natural science with perfection and grace.
Will inspire further research and necessary innovative action.

Great book for anyone

Such a awesome story, hearing a life dedicated to the passion of science is always a great listen!