It's impossible to envision. This fundamental substance has played a role in nearly every aspect of human existence, in ways both ordinary and thrillingly unexpected: toothpicks, Derek Jeter's bat, true relics of the cross, the famed Stradivarius violin, medieval catapults, and the Spruce Goose are only a few examples. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Carlsen (Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual) gives a solid history of wood as he travels the world, analyzing the vast number of uses of a mundane natural resource. In doing so, Carlsen also uncovers the wide variety of personalities that work with wood every day, from the chainsaw artist appropriately named the "Wild Mountain Man" to the blind cabinetmaker who "can see things with [his] fingers that you may not see with your eyes." He uncovers places where wood golf clubs are still manufactured today; explains which type of wood is best for a baseball bat; takes readers through the painstaking process used to make the beautiful Stradivarius violins and Steinway grand pianos; he also demonstrates how the gondola is a "floating work of efficiency and ergonomic art." At one point, Carlsen visits a company in Maine that produces 50 billion toothpicks and 12 billion wooden matches each year. Carlsen includes photographs throughout this engaging and exhaustively researched work. (Sept.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Adult/High School-Carlsen explores our reliance on wood from numerous angles. A carpenter, woodworker, and author of dozens of books and articles on home improvement, he knows his subject well, and his love and respect for trees and all things made from them are evident on each page. The author includes just enough of the science of trees and wood, and of the technology of wood products and woodworking, to inform but not burden lay readers. Numerous stories add immeasurably to the book's appeal. Readers are told how a Steinway piano is built, why a Stradivarius violin is so special, about the role of the long bow in military history, and how pens and pencils evolved. In addition, there are discussions of the offbeat, including a full-scale (and functional) Ferrari carved of wood, the 36-year remodeling project known as the Winchester House, a staircase with no visible means of support, and the use of wood forensics in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. Carlsen explores the extraordinary variety of woods on our planet, the profession and hobby of fine woodworking, the tools used to work wood, and the many uses of it in our lives-in music, sports, shelter, furniture, weapons, and transportation. The volume ends with a word on the highly complex issues surrounding human use of the world's forests and the consequent effects on the global environment. Black-and-white photos are included. Thoroughly researched, thoughtful, and entertaining.-Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Who knew wood could be this fascinating? Who knew that perfectly preserved, enormous pieces of wood, dating back 50,000 years or more, are being pulled out of New Zealand bogs? Who knew that the oldest piece of nonpetrified wood is about seven million years old? Who knew that there exists a large, diverse, and rather enthusiastic group of wood connoisseurs who can tell you everything you want to know, and even more besides, about the differences between the various types of wood (and there are a lot of varieties)? According to the author, a carpenter, woodworker, as well as a writer, wood has had an enormous effect on world history and on the evolution of humankind. Clearly, when you think about it, he's right: wood can be made into a toothpick or a city; it can be used for building things or making art; and it has survived as long as human beings themselves. As Carlsen tells the story, wood is a wondrous thing.--Pitt, David Copyright 2008 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Introduction	p. xiii
1 Extraordinary Woods	p. 1
Fifty-Thousand-Year-Old Wood
Lives and Breathes Again
In Quest of the World's Most Expensive Board Foot
Oak: The Breakfast of Civilizations
The Wood Freak Show
Bamboo: The Grass That Thinks It's a Wood
Rescuing Redwood the Hard Way
Logging the Industrial Forest
Wood: How It Got Here, How Trees Make It
2 The Wacky World of Woodworkers	p. 46
A Chainsaw Artist a Cut Above the Rest
My Seven Awkward Minutes with the
Man Who Carves Ferraris
Woodworking Blind-Just Like Everyone Else
How Much Wood Would a Wood Collector Collect?
Nakashima: The Pavarotti of Woodworking Still Sings
My Almost-Perfect Interview with
Woodworker Jimmy Carter
3 The Tools That Work the Wood	p. 91
As the Lathe Turns: Making Golf Tees with the Master
Tool Junky Heaven
The Table Saw That Couldn't Cut a Hot Dog in Half
Belt Sander Racing: A Saga of True
Grit, Speed, and Victory (sort of)
4 Wood in the World of Music	p. 116
Stradivarius Violins: The Sweetest
Sound You've Never Heard
The Making of Sweet Baby James's Guitar
Drums: And the Beat Goes On and On and On ...
The Steinway D: Twelve Thousand
Pieces of Indestructible Music
The National Music Museum: Six Hundred Zithers
B. B. King, and One-Ton Drums
5 Wood in the World of Sports	p. 153
Baseball Bats: A David-and-Goliath Affair
Golf: Persimmon Scores a Hole in One
Tossing Telephone Poles and Other Curious Sports
The Art of the Pool Cue
Tennis: The Racket about Wood Racquets
Lumber Jacks and Lumber Jills
6 Wood as Shelter	p. 185
Living in Trees: From Papua, New
Guinea, to Washington State
The History of Housing from Log Cabin to, Well, Log Cabin
Everything You Never Wanted to Know
About Construction Lumber
A Dirty Rotting Shame
Winchester House: The Thirty-Six-Year
Remodeling Project
7 Wood in Day-to-Day Life	p. 208
When Wood Was Everything and Everything Was Wood
The Lindbergh Kidnapping, the Ted
Bundy Tree, and Forensic Wood
Pens and Pencils: Getting to the Point
A Barrelful of Coopers, Kegs, and Tradition
True Relics of the Cross
Fifty Billion Toothpicks Can't Be Wrong
8 Wood, Weapons, and War	p. 252
Ten Great Moments in Catapult History
A Tale of Two Warships: One Unsinkable, One Unsailable
The Twang of the Bow
White Pines and War
Pine Roots versus Atomic Bombs
9 Wood by Land, Air, and Sea	p. 287
The Spruce Goose Made of Birch
Go Fly a Person: Kites for Work and Play
Trains: Riding the Wooden Rails
In Search of the Lost Ark
The Song of the Gondolier
10 Wood in Unusual Uses and Peculiar Places	p. 313
Venice: The City Perched on Wood
Wood Pipe Takes a Bow
Building a Staircase to Heaven
Academy Award Nominees for Outstanding
Performance by a Wooden Structure
Roller Coasters: Mobius Strips of Screaming Wood
11 Epilogue: Trees-Answers, Gifts, and Ducks in the Wind	p. 349
Notes	p. 359
Resources	p. 373
Bibliography	p. 383
Photography and Illustration Credits	p. 391
Index	p. 393
About the Author	p. 413

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.