(Please don't knock my glasses off or kick sawdust on me)
Can anyone suggest a book about wood that is fairly scientific with
regard to the terpenes, saps of hardwods, and any other chemistry or
biological aspects of trees? How about genetic differences of trees?
Pardon my science geekdom here, but I would be interested to find out
such things as what the chemical structures are that make oak smell
differently than walnut, or why conifer saps have differing qualities.
Thanks in advance for all straight and corny responses.
Marc (and no, I do not wear a pocket
protector)

marc rosen wrote:
Can anyone suggest a book about wood that is fairly scientific?

Understanding Wood, a craftsman's guide towood technology, by R. Bruce
Hoadley

It's available on Amazon.

Tom in KY, no pocket protectors here either!

I would suggest you check out the forest products lab in Madison
Wiscnosin:
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/ . They might have what you are looking for.
djs

How about a forest biology textbook? I went to a forestry school for
my MS, though my program was more on the biology/genetics side than the
forestry side. Any more specific questions about genetics of trees?
Once you're really looking at DNA, it doesn't matter whether you're
looking at DNA from a human, a tree, or a bacterium - it all works the
same way, and a lot of the sequences are exactly the same, even in
these widely divergent groups. If you mean tree genetics as in
phylogeny and genetic relationships, I think evolutionary history of
trees (or just about any other group of organisms) is pretty
interesting, and I'd recommend a textbook for that too. Or just look
at the evolution chapter in just about any college-level botany
textbook. As far as the sap, smells, chemicals, etc., you'd probably
want to look for something about forest biochemistry or tree
physiology, but those are farther from my area of expertise.
Hope this helps a little,
Andy

"djs" wrote in message
ups.com...
I would suggest you check out the forest products lab in Madison
Wiscnosin:
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/ . They might have what you are looking for.
djs


That and more. Hoadley used to work there, so there's a remarkable overlap
between the free Wood Handbook (PDF) and Understanding Wood.

For greater depth, visit a nearby university and check out the outdated
texts they sell for a buck ninety five. Most all the information is
current, it's just that the store couldn't make much money if the profs
didn't specify the current edition.

Of course, it'll have to be a university where such classes are taught.

wrote:
marc rosen wrote:
Can anyone suggest a book about wood that is fairly scientific?

Understanding Wood, a craftsman's guide towood technology, by R. Bruce
Hoadley

It's available on Amazon.

That book is _SO_ in-depth, it puts us non-geeks to sleep. G

B a r r y wrote:
wrote:
marc rosen wrote:
Can anyone suggest a book about wood that is fairly scientific?

Understanding Wood, a craftsman's guide towood technology, by R. Bruce
Hoadley

That book is _SO_ in-depth, it puts us non-geeks to sleep. G

Yep,

I keep it next to the bed. I read it in bed. I wake up and put it back
on the table. Go back to sleep. Sweet dreams of microscoptic pictures
of wood grain and physical characteristics of wood :-)

Tom in KY, Like the old boxer said,"When I stand, I stand tall. When I
fight, I fight hard. When I eat, I eat a lot.,, but when I think,,, I
go to sleep.

On 9 Jan 2006 18:27:33 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm, "marc
rosen" quickly quoth:

(Please don't knock my glasses off or kick sawdust on me)
Can anyone suggest a book about wood that is fairly scientific with
regard to the terpenes, saps of hardwods, and any other chemistry or
biological aspects of trees? How about genetic differences of trees?
Pardon my science geekdom here, but I would be interested to find out
such things as what the chemical structures are that make oak smell
differently than walnut, or why conifer saps have differing qualities.
Thanks in advance for all straight and corny responses.

Hoadley's "Understanding Wood" does precisely that, marc.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." --Mahatma Gandhi
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http://diversify.com Website Application Programming

On 9 Jan 2006 18:27:33 -0800, "marc rosen" wrote:

(Please don't knock my glasses off or kick sawdust on me)

Very good!
Love little twists like that....

I have a few interesting books, but the real info is here in the news group...
some of the folks here have a lot of knowledge and experience and are willing to
share it...

That's very important when you're doing a project and are not sure what the
"next step" should be, or some other situation where you can ask a fairly
specific question.. I've had help posted here within a few minutes of posting my
question!

You will have some replys saying things like "read the FAQ' or "Google for
it"... just browse past them and you'll find others willing to help..

personal gripe
I've never understood why folks that are subscribed to a news group to help
people tell them to go find the information themselves...

What good would/wood the NG be if everyone said that? Maybe if we all did our
own research, we could do away with news groups..
/personal gripe

Ask questions, learn and have fun... you'll soon learn who to listen to and who
to expect a "flame" from... and soon you'll find that you're answering a few,
too..




mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On 9 Jan 2006 18:27:33 -0800, "marc rosen" wrote:

(Please don't knock my glasses off or kick sawdust on me)
Can anyone suggest a book about wood that is fairly scientific with
regard to the terpenes, saps of hardwods, and any other chemistry or
biological aspects of trees? How about genetic differences of trees?
Pardon my science geekdom here, but I would be interested to find out
such things as what the chemical structures are that make oak smell
differently than walnut, or why conifer saps have differing qualities.
Thanks in advance for all straight and corny responses.
Marc (and no, I do not wear a pocket
protector)

I think if you really wanted to know about the chemistry of the
terpenes and saps of tree, you may be stuck with finding a scientific
library that has Chemical Abstracts and an abundance of chemstry
relatedl journals. Many scientific monographs will contain bits and
pieces reviewed, but you are still talking one heck of search.
Provided you can understand the chemical literature you will probably
want to be fairly selective fairly quickly.
Gary Dyrkacz

Radio Control Aircraft/Paintball Physics/Paintball for 40+
http://home.comcast.net/~dyrgcmn/

Hello Gary, and others,
Thanks to all for the suggestions and also for the Hoadley book
recommendation. Fortunately, I can understand the chemical literature
and structures. In my line of work I also analyze drugs made from
plant extracts. (No, not narcotics, but chemotherapeutics). I was
curious to find out if there was a woodworking book that featured these
topics. I'll be purchasing Hoadley this weekend. Thanks again to all
for these and for the other responses to my varied questions.

Marc