The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature

I very much like the brevity of each chapter since each chapter contains facts I either did not know or have forgotten. Due to the relative shortness of each chapter the new information is not overwhelming. The book confirms my awe of nature. I am still reading it, I have not finished it yet, and I am thrilled each time I pick it up.

The authors mandala is a 1 meter circle in the hills of Tennessee. Each visit that he makes to the site he exams one of the natural processes happening on the site. This book opens your eyes to the fascinating little stories that are happening all around us. A great book to savor because reading it leaves you with such a warm feeling.

Delightful journey through many layers of scientific beauty - the logic of photosynthesis, the beauty of symbiosis, the intricacy of scale and why our own size blinds us to thousands of other organisms. Haskell is a wonder himself - a person who takes joy in creating understanding for his readers.

the book is well written and full of fun and fascinating info. short chapters make it perfect for times when you only have a short period of time to read. will likely read additional things from the author

We would all be better off if we read this book. Through these reflections you can't help but be amazed of the intertwined world in which we live. Select daily observations from a variety of subjects (trees, salamanders, ants etc.) The observations are then elaborated on with fascinating intricate knowledge of the species at hand. Tell a friend. Observe your own mandala!

This is one of the loveliest books I have read in years. Each entry revealed something wonderful and thought provoking. I particularly enjoyed the entries on the mosses, chickadees, and turkey vultures. The writing is superb. Currently The Forest Unseen is one of my top choices for gift giving to friends who enjoy nature writing at its best.

This is my favorite book in the past several years. I have given away multiple copies of it. It is biology taken to the level of spirituality and has opened a new avenue of reading and awareness for me.

Haskell has the rare ability to turn the environmental and biological into a narrative of prose that will not put you to sleep. His voice comes through in this piece not as preaching, but as a wise man helping you to understand your own problems.

The book can be taken in pieces or as a whole. Each chapter is a science essay which is well researched and beautifully written. Taken together the essays paint an inspiring picture of nature, as seen from a single spot in the woods. How many times have naturalists sat in the woods and wanted to write this book! Haskell has done it...

"The Forest Unseen" is full of the most insightful observations I've seen in a book of it's nature. David Haskell has the background plus the forests love to describe in minute detail what lies hidden from our view. His passion is contagious and even for nature lovers and teachers, there's much to be learned from this book.

This is a wonderful book. There's hardly a page on which I didn't learn something new. I bought this for my kindle, then bought a hard copy to give as a Christmas present. Will probably get another hard copy just to keep.

I've wanted to read this book for a log time as the premise was interesting to me. The intense study of a square meter of land for a year would be interesting. I did enjoy it and had some real insight. He doesn't necessarily stick to that plot of land, but he does explain the current understanding of the ecosystem surrounding that nature and it helped me understand humanity's role. I found many interesting tidbits, such as why certain Hawks have stopped migrating and how our habits caused that. I would definitely recommend to a nature lover.

I wish in every community we have naturalist like him that can guide and teach students and local residents to observe and appreciate nature. Biology class should start this way, not dry facts and formulas.

Just received. Am glad I don't judge a book by its cover because the cover was cut short of the page edge on both front and back. A bit surprised it passed quality inspection, assuming there is one. When I worked for a major book seller, this wouldn't have made the "cut". Five stars are for the content which I'm sure will be a 10 star read.

The book is great. It described and explained a lot of inner workings of the natural word.
One gripe I have about it is that I wished there was more visual aid. Perhaps a companion web site or more visual information in the book itself. Often I found myself reading next to my laptop so that I can look up the things the author was talking about.

My English II students read Dr. Haskell's book for summer reading and kept a journal with responses to the text. I am thrilled with the work my students produced and encourage English teachers to consider this work for their students.

This should be required reading for students of American Literature, Ecology, and for the well read, reflective and curious. I thoroughly enjoyed this and was sad when it ended, simply because there was not more to read.

Outstanding, a joy to read. The story is presented as a series of daily observances of a small section of old growth forest. Each daily narrative is driven by what was taking place during each visit.The author clearly explains these goings on and how they effect the larger ecosystem, from season to season, fungus to large mammals.

Had to read this for a summer assignment, it was so boring. If you're super into science you might like it because it goes so in depth of all the amazing aspects of nature and how vast our earth truly is, but for me I couldn't wait to finish. Props to the author for having such miticulous and diverse work, but it just wasn't a good book for me!

I really wanted to like this book. It has great reviews. What a great premise for a book! I tried to read this book several times but each time I put it down and I could not finish it. I like reading natural history. Some sections were OK. But in many sections, I was disappointed with the writing and did not understand except in generalities what the author was writing about. The writing was so dry. A good book should transport you to where the book is set - in this case - to the small plot of land the author is writing about to see or feel the wondrous things that are being written about. Unfortunately, that did not happen for me. Reading this book brought back memories of being lectured to in my most boring college class.

Examples of natural history writing with similar subjects that really shine compared to this book:
Where the Wild Things Were - about the importance of predators - amazingly lucid writing!
What a Plant Knows - self explanatory, but fascinating - plants are amazing!
Secrets of the Oak Woodlands - This book covers in a very different format many similar subjects to The Forest Unseen, but the author really succeeded and shared her knowledge and enthusiasm. Oak Woodlands is more basic but I feel I learned much more - especially with respect to the chemical warfare of plants and how important fungi are to a forest, where The Forest Unseen just did not work.

One of the best natural history oriented books I've read in the past several years. Using a one square meter patch of Tennessee old growth forest as the object of his contemplation, and returning to it frequently throughout the year, the author shows us natural phenomena we'd otherwise have overlooked. Haskell emphasizes the interconnectedness of humble organisms such as fungi and soil-inhabiting arthropods as well as the more familiar birds and mammals we're more likely to notice.You will be inspired to take a much closer look during your next outing into nature.

The Forest Unseen is a fascinating nonfiction book that examines life on a one square meter of old growth forest owned by the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Haskell is a biology professor at the university and spent a year observing the same small meter of land in the forest, observing the changes that each season brings to the land.

The book is divided into chapters that correspond to his visits to the patch. He examines everything he sees and hears. The reader learns about songbirds, mushrooms, how plants reproduce, why certain plants bloom in the spring, ticks, microscopic animals, trees, fungi and how the climate changes throughout the year structures the life available for observation. The reader will pick up tidbits of knowledge in each chapter as well as an overarching view of the entire interrelated ecosystem. For example, half of all songbirds who do not migrate will die in the winter due to the inability to find enough food to convert into heat. That is one observation that stuck with me, but every chapter will provide new insights into the world that surrounds us.

The book has been recognized as one of the best in this genre. It was a Finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction. It was the Winner of the 2013 Reed Environmental Writing Award, and the Winner of the 2012 National Outdoor Book Award for National Historical Literature. Readers will find the book fascinating and a microscope into the workings of the world mostly unknown to the average person. This book is recommended for readers of nonfiction and those interested in the natural world.

David George Haskell’s description of a small bit of land as a Mandala is more than an interesting metaphor. Like the sand paintings of Tibetan monks, his patch of old growth forest was a place of observation and contemplation, from which his thoughts, and consequently his writings, took wing into historic and contemporary research. He describes the flight of birds, the rate of tree growth, the lives of plants and animals, the shifting weather patterns and the hexagonal ring structure of frozen water. These vignettes reveal both depth and breadth of knowledge. His acknowledgements reveal extensive research at the library of the University of the South and conversations with academic colleagues, both of which enhanced his writing.

Haskell’s use of a square meter of forest as the launching point for these discussions makes sense as a concept that I can only express as microcosm. Commonly understood as a small portion which represents the whole, it is in fact a small portion which reveals the nature of the whole. It is derived from the same word as cosmos. The book is an excellent read for birdwatchers and anyone else who spends time observing nature. I was not surprised to learn that it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.

I'm a ecologist in training. Or computational ecologist to be precise. I see lives through my computer screen: ATCG from DNA, physiological data from the lab or literature. I never felt the need to see or touch nature. Why, I could do biology right here by typing and clicking. Until I read Mr Haskell's book.

I myself have done some late night walks around the lake near the place I lived once and am awed by the nature and the stars in the same way that Mr Haskell describes. I never had connected the world that I saw with the world that I am working on. They are the same world in the first place. Mr Haskell writes about such a separation right in the next to last essay. The academy people just see the world too often as a flow chart and try to categorize every organism. But nature rarely obey definitions and rules. By and by, I mistook the world I saw in the screen as the world out there.

Surely, it is going to take me several more late night walks around the forest to correct my thinking. And this book is going to be my road companion as that happens.

Beautifully written, fascinating. I lived in rural Tennessee for six years and wish I'd had this book then. I'd never seen such a range of the purest light creamy yellow-greens through the deepest dark evergreens on the hillsides in the spring. Haskell captures that level of the breathtaking in all that he writes about. I love his mandala, his careful observations. This is the kind of book that keeps teaching us to look more carefully, as the rewards are so great. I walked the cliffs and ridges and waded and swam the rivers with my dogs; his book has brought back so many fabulous memories. In the morning we would sneak down to the spring to watch the Great Blue Heron catching fish where the spring gushed into the river. I miss it (but not the ticks and chiggers!). Highly recommended.

I think this book will stand the test of time as one of the true classics in nature writing. The author not only discusses with absolutely beautiful writing the natural history of a small patch of old growth forest in South Carolina, but he also ties everything together majestically, showing how intricate the web of life is and how all it's components affect all of it's others. Rarely have I felt this awed and amazed at the natural life of soil and leaf litter nor have I felt so humbled by man's place in the natural order. All this the author achieves with utmost beauty and poetry. A very remarkable book, one which I would recommend without reservation to anyone with an interest or passion for the natural world.

Unquestionably destined to be a classic. I've read almost everything that this book might be compared to, including the ones considered classics of nature writing, and few come close to this combination of diverse knowledge and sincere, unashamed love for the subject. This book opens a small window with an infinite view. Though the intricate facts Haskell provides are memorable on their own, it is his simple invitation to experience that carries such immeasurable promise for readers. Nature is inseparable from us. All we need to do is allow ourselves the time to match our senses to it.

I think this book will stand the test of time as one of the true classics in nature writing. The author not only discusses with absolutely beautiful writing the natural history of a small patch of old growth forest in South Carolina, but he also ties everything together majestically, showing how intricate the web of life is and how all it's components affect all of it's others. Rarely have I felt this awed and amazed at the natural life of soil and leaf litter nor have I felt so humbled by man's place in the natural order. All this the author achieves with utmost beauty and poetry. A very remarkable book, one which I would recommend without reservation to anyone with an interest or passion for the natural world.

Unquestionably destined to be a classic. I've read almost everything that this book might be compared to, including the ones considered classics of nature writing, and few come close to this combination of diverse knowledge and sincere, unashamed love for the subject. This book opens a small window with an infinite view. Though the intricate facts Haskell provides are memorable on their own, it is his simple invitation to experience that carries such immeasurable promise for readers. Nature is inseparable from us. All we need to do is allow ourselves the time to match our senses to it.

A niche read, for sure. For someone with a love of the the wild -- even the wildness of an opossum in an urban back yard -- this book only deepens the appreciation for the intricacies of nature. For someone entrenched in city life and technology, it might be a bore. (I'm sorry for you.) A delightful read.

As an older student this book covered what I have been studying in Biology I and II but in a very readable and often beautifully written style. If you like nature and appreciate a better understanding of it read this one. If you are a student in biology this book makes more clear sometimes complicated processes and systems such as the mosquito bite, fungal sex, migration, so much more, but all in a fun to read story. Thanks for writing this one Sir!

All the five star reviews here are correct. This book is profound; it's a wonder that anyone can write like this and observe nature up close. I have a little familiarity with the area having done my graduate geology thesis not too far to the north on the same side of the Cumberland plateau, and his descriptions are spot on. I can view it all in my mind's eye. This is "nature writing" at its finest. This is writing at its finest. Order this book immediately. You will not be disappointed.

I have read and reread this book. Short essays, you can read one a day and spend some first class time in amazement. The content is totally science - the presentation is pure poetry. Haskell writes vividly. He starts from a specific observation about something seen, smelled, heard, or touched in the one meter square of old growth forest he visits daily - then spins off into amazing reflections or deep descriptions of natural processes. Just get it. I'm getting a second copy. My first has found a new home!

I'm a voracious reader and lover of nature. I've used the store.com book reviews for many years, but have never felt compelled to write one - until now. A friend loaned me this book and it is exquisitely written and such a joy to read. I hated using that term "a joy to read" since other reviewers had used it, but I can't think of anything more descriptive. The scientific descriptions are written so that a layman can fully understand, bringing to life the animal, insect, leaf or whatever part of nature the author happened upon that day. The first chapter is a little dry and in my opinion the least enjoyable in the book (but still informative), so please don't let that turn you away - the remainder of the book is a delight. I'm purchasing a copy for my personal library and also copies for my nature loving friends. I very highly recommend it for anyone interested in nature and ecosystems.

A published poet and essayist, Haskell not only manages to fascinate you with the interconnectedness of life, but also with his wonderful, image evoking writing. This is a book that anyone with an interest in nature and wild places will enjoy, and if they are like me will re-read on a regular basis.

It started a little slow ,but that all changed.He tells a story of a year observing a square yard of land in a forrest.How it relates to our world,beautifully written.I read a library edition, then realizing , I would need to read it again down the road..

I so thoroughly enjoyed this book, it's hard for me to put it into words. I was a pre-med Biology major in college and as such, 98% of my courses were lectures and in the labs, NOT "field courses". I have lived in Sewanee for more than 20 years and know well the location of Shake Rag Hollow. Sewanee is and has been a place of wonder and beauty. I feel so blessed and thankful for this book opening my own eyes to the enormous diversity of life all around us and the "interconnectedness" of ALL. Thank you David. Sincerely, Richard W. Gosling, Jr. CRNA

I loved this book! It is both highly informative and lyrical. I'm sure I will reread it from time to time. It is destined to be a classic of nature and science writing. I learned a ton of fascinating information and the writing style is gorgeously evocative and descriptive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, one to read slowly and take notes. It changed my perception of my garden - which I call now "my mandala" and I observe the life in it more acutely. I always was interested in fauna and flora, but as a non-biologist I don't have the in depth knowledge of everything that grows and flits around.
I would say: a joy to read for nature lovers

I found the concept and subjects in this book to be fascinating; there are a lot of excellent essays about various aspects of the TN woodland that the author was observing. However, the prose is saturated with tenuous literary and cultural references, from the use of the word "mandala" to refer to the author's meter square observation plot to the long-winded comparison of ticks to the knights of the round table. If this sort of thing doesn't bother you (or you're prepared to skim or laugh at it) then I recommend the book for the naturalist content.

I did learn a few new things about nature. He is easy to read.

I would have loved the book if he had not continuously pounded me with his evolution teaching every other paragraph. He brings it up time and time again. Every chapter.
It was as bad as bible thumpers continuously hitting me with scriptures.

I can live without both extremes. If he could have controlled himself it would of been a good book.
I will not pass the book on.

Good prose and a glorious index/bibliography of research in support of that prose -- although, at times, an exhaustive, repeat use of the word 'mandala' destroys fluidity/rhythm and makes getting through each page somewhat cumbersome. Haskell's philosophical approach to the one-square meter exercise has its origins in a Buddhist and Hindu tradition; the writer embraces the concept fully (almost neurotically) and so the text does take on somewhat of a Charlatan's preachiness. I certainly can support a desire to interject some empathy and compassion into a strictly scientific way of thinking, but there's a way to accomplish such (PZ Myers, Oliver Sacks) rooted exclusively in naturalism, without veering into fluffy New Ageism that compromises the integrity/wonder of the science (or, one's ability to take Dr. Haskell altogether seriously as a scientist, first and foremost). I'd imagine this would irk no readers other than those who describe themselves as secularists (I'd surely be dismayed, though not surprised, to find a book out on Intelligent Design under his byline in the future). For whatever reason, he withholds personal details even though narrative is told in the first-person, but I count that as a plus; the essay-series doesn't get so autobiographical that the mandala action meanders into narrator-centric narcisissm. There are autobiographical interjections, for sure, but they relate back to the biology at hand or to larger themes in conservation, evolution etc -- so don't expect to come away from the book with a good understanding of the author, as a man [it's a nature tale that stops short of Thoreau/Emerson-like introspection of the (human) self]. On the whole, a solid attempt at making biology and ecology of temperate deciduous forests accessible to non-scientists through clear and compelling prose with a poetic timbre.