Paroles d’un bouleau jaune / Words from a Yellow Birch – Leboeuf

Information

Author:

Michel Leboeuf

Publication Date:

Editions MultiMondes
April 2018

Rights Sold

Additional Info

WORDS FROM A YELLOW BIRCH

Rights Holder: Editions MultiMondes
Original Language: French

This is the remarkable story of Old Jack, a 250-year-old yellow birch, dark colossus of the Laurentian forest, who bares his soul to a biologist.

He traces the history of plants and chronicles that of his forest; he offers theories of evolution and of the origins of life; finally, he leaves us with a fundamental rule: “It is neither separation, nor exclusion, nor competition that reigns over the world of the living (...); helping one another, working together, and living in symbiosis are the keys to understanding evolution.”

Supported by recent ecological discoveries, the fable of the yellow birch provides a pretext for a powerful understanding of Nature and shines a light on the relationship between humans and... trees.

A rare hybrid that lies somewhere between science essay and fable.

Miche Leboeuf is a biologist. Editor-in-chief of the magazine Nature sauvage for 10 years, he has written over a dozen books and was twice awarded the prix Hubert-Reeves for best popular science book in Quebec. He is currently the executive director of the Lanaudiere Conservation Social Trust.