The Wood Wide Web: Mother Trees and Forest Communication

Professor Suzanne Simard visits Google to discuss her book "Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest." Simard writes about how trees, living side by side for hundreds of years, have evolved, perceive one another, learn and adapt their behaviors, recognize neighbors, and remember the past. She also illustrates how they have agency about the future, elicit warnings and mount defenses, compete and cooperate with one another with sophistication, and possess other characteristics typically ascribed to human intelligence. Born and raised in the rainforests of British Columbia, Simard writes of her days as a child spent cataloging the forest trees and how she came to love and respect them. As she writes of her scientific quest, she tells of her own journey, making us understand how scientific inquiry exists beyond data and technology - that it is instead about us knowing who we are and our place in the world.

Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.