Oak Origins

"It is an extraordinary challenge to make a top-notch work of scholarship palatable for the general public, but Hipp has easily met that challenge in Oak Origins. Everything you ever wondered about oaks, and so much more that you didn't know enough to wonder about, is packed into this definitive work on one of our most important trees. From pollen tube competition, to the oak lineage's earliest ancestors, to the vital roles oaks play in ecosystems across the world, each account is more interesting than the last. A fascinating read from start to finish." -- Douglas W. Tallamy, New York Times-bestselling author of "Nature's Best Hope," "Bringing Nature Home," and "The Nature of Oaks"
"Oaks are strong and sturdy, adaptable and beautiful, and the same can be said for Hipp's joyful book Oak Origins. Hipp, director of the herbarium at the Morton Arboretum near Chicago, is a world expert on tree genetics and evolution, and with his new book, proves that he has science writing chops as well. In his meditation on oaks, he uses these familiar trees to explore the wonders of plants, ecosystems, evolution, and Earth history. I grew up amongst the oaks in Illinois. A few huge ones towered over our backyard, but I didn't think much of them until one was felled by lightning, and all of a sudden, our home was less vibrant with birds and insects. After reading Hipp's book, I understand why: oaks are the nexus of a hidden world of diversity and beauty, which we must preserve as climates and environments change rapidly around us." -- Steve Brusatte, professor and paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh and New York Times-bestselling author of "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs"
"In this brilliant exploration, oaks emerge as jazz musicians, continually improvising, collaborating, and finding new living music over millions of years. We think of oaks as hard and unyielding, but Hipp's compelling writing reveals them as supple and inventive, from genes, to physiology, to their ecologies." -- David George Haskell, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biology, Sewanee: The University of the South, and the author of "Sounds Wild and Broken," "The Songs of Trees," and "The Forest Unseen"
"Elegantly written and authoritatively researched, this book takes us around the world and down into the archives of deep time-from Oaxaca to Wuyishan, from the Norse World-Tree to the Darwinian Tree of Life-exploring the surprisingly rich, diverse, and ancient botanical world that has sprung forth from the humble acorn." -- Robert Moor, New York Times-bestselling author of "On Trails: An Exploration"
"Oak Origins: From Acorns to Species and the Tree of Life is a captivating combination of oak natural history and evolutionary biology. A must read for anyone interested in oaks or biodiversity science." -- Jonathan B. Losos, author of "The Cat's Meow" and "Improbable Destinies"
"Oak Origins: From Acorns to Species and the Tree of Life is an essential read for anyone attempting to understand the fundamental but truly complex biology of the oaks. The volume provides a clear analysis of the diversity of oaks, oak hybridization, oak communities, the oak genome, and the impressive global radiation and distribution of the oaks." -- Michael A. Steele, Department of Biology, Wilkes University, and author of "Oak Seed Dispersal: A Study in Plant-Animal Interactions"
"One of the premier naturalists and evolutionary biologists of our time, Hipp weaves together the deeply compelling origin story of the oaks-at once scientifically rigorous and accessible to all. Hipp pieces together botanical details of reproductive biology with the complex science of gene evolution, fossil data, and ecological observations to bring to life the incredible story of the northern hemisphere's most adored and important tree genus. A literary accomplishment, illustrated with exquisite botanical drawings, Oak Origins will give the reader a profound appreciation of how the trees around us came to be here in such abundance. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever picked up an acorn and wondered how it could one day become one of the most iconic and revered standing giants in our midst." -- Jeannine Cavender-Bares, director, Harvard University Herbaria
"There is poetry, suspense, and humor in Andrew's science, and in his writing. You can enter his story in many different ways, but, once you are in it, you will be captivated." -- Beatrice Chasse, former president of the International Oak Society, from the foreword