Children around the world know that to tell how old a tree is you count its rings. Few people however know that research into tree rings has also made amazing contributions to our understanding of Earths climate history and its influences on human civilization over the past 2000 years. In her captivating new book Tree Story Valerie Trouet reveals how the seemingly simple and relatively familiar concept of counting tree rings has inspired farreaching scientific breakthroughs that illuminate the complex interactions between nature and people.Trouet a leading treering scientist takes us out into the field from remote African villages to radioactive Russian forests offering readers an insiders look at treering research a discipline formally known as dendrochronology.