Event
Virtual Lightbulb Café: Elderflora by Jared Farmer
Penn History Faculty Event
Virtual Lightbulb Café: Elderflora by Jared Farmer
Penn Lightbulb Café
Wednesday, December 6 2023 - 12:00pm
Event Speaker: Jared Farmer, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History
Moderator: Karen M'Closkey, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Weitzman School of Design
Online Event (connection info will be sent upon registration)
Would you like to be in a book group with fellow alums from around the world, reading works by Penn Arts & Sciences faculty? Hit the books and get ready to join us for the Penn Arts & Sciences Virtual Lightbulb Café: Faculty Book Series! Our fabulous faculty authors will discuss their new books, describing the inspiration and research behind each, and answer audience questions.
Humans have always revered long-lived trees. But as Jared Farmer reveals in Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees, our veneration took a turn in the 18th century, when naturalists embarked on a quest to locate and precisely date the oldest living things on earth. The new science of tree time led to protection and veneration of some trees, while old-growth forests were succumbing to imperial expansion and the industrial revolution. Farmer takes us from Lebanon to New Zealand to California, and shows that a long future is still possible. Publishers Weekly gave Elderflora a starred review, saying, “Farmer masterfully blends science, religion, and history, making for a beautiful and moving portrait of nature over time.” The book received the Jacques Barzun Prize from the American Philosophical Society.