活动名称：2012木文化国际研讨会
会议时间：2012年9月2日
会议地点：浙江农林大学图书馆报告厅
报告嘉宾：Pieter Baas

　　Pieter Bass 先生毕业于荷兰莱顿大学生物系并以优秀论文的成绩获得博士学位。自1969年起，他任职于荷兰国家植物标本馆，该标本馆现隶属于荷兰国家自然生物多样性中心。1991年至2005 年，他曾担任荷兰国家植物标本馆主任，现为植物分类学荣誉教授。自1976 年起，他还担任国际木材解剖学家杂志协会的首席编辑，曾出版6 部专著，发表220 篇科学论文。Pieter Bass 先生是荷兰皇家艺术和科学院（KNAW） 院士、国际木材科学院（IAWS）院士、国际木材解剖学家协会（IAWA）荣誉会员、印度植物分类学家协会的荣誉会员和美国植物学会通讯会员。Pieter Bass 先生还是2003 年林奈金质奖章（植物学）获奖者和荷兰皇家骑士勋章获得者。Pieter Bass 先生的主要研究领域为生态和功能性木材解剖、系统和亲缘植物解剖学、微观木材鉴定、生物多样性、生物史和木文化。

报告摘要：Wood has inspired scientists to find explanations of tree biology and timber properties from Greek antiquity onwards. We owe a systematic account of timber as a highly diverse forest product and commodity to the Greek philosopher Theophrastus (about 2300 years BP). He emphasised the relationships between growth conditions and wood quality and could study many timbers coming from a wide geographical range, thanks to the expeditions and conquests by Alexander the Great. We owe many inventions involving the use of wood to the Chinese: timber frames in architecture and tree trunk coffins many thousands of years ago, paper making (including toilet paper and bank notes) and the manufactury of match sticks many centuries before they were in use in Europe, etc. The understanding of wood structure and properties received a new impetus with the development of the microscope in 17th century Europe, with pioneering contributions by Hooke, Grew, Malpighi and Leeuwenhoek. The development of a comparative wood science was also facilitated by the simultaneous origin of wood collections, initially forming part of Curiosity Cabinets, later as resources for teaching and research in about 130 institutional wood collections worldwide, currently curating a total number of over 1.1 million wood samples. Modern wood research is of great relevance to wood culture and society. In my talk I will only highlight a few aspects: a) microscopic identification of valuable wooden works of art, and b) the information content of wood structure as an ecological proxy for studying global climate change. Wood science continues to develop thanks to new technologies available for microscopic and chemical characterization of wood – and all these new technologies hold great promise for underpinning the study of wood culture. Understanding the multiple functions of wood in the living tree is very helpful in the study of wood uses by man in past, present and future.
 

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