Trees are the largest, longest-lived and least understood of all living things. The author led a scientific effort at the Forest Research Institute of newly independent Malaysia to document the trees of the Malay Peninsula. This culminated in the characterisation of 2830 species, of which over 300 were new to science. He also carried out wide-ranging explorations on the growth, reproduction and development of tropical trees, against a background of massive changes in land, forests and environment. This is an incisive account of scientific research, people, events and issues at multiple levels of organization and complexity, in a developing country, by one of its pioneer scientists.
Within the framework of a memoir, this book provides:
- Concise explanations of issues and concepts in tropical forest management.
- An integrated overview of the diversity, growth, development and reproduction of tropical trees and forests.
- Critical evaluations of scientific research strategy, productivity, policy and organization at the individual, institutional and national levels.
- A history of forestry and the Forest Research Institute Malaysia.
- A history of nature conservation and the Malaysian Nature Society.