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Originally Posted by Sean Freeman  Treevet, your passion for the foundation work laid by Alex Shigo is matched by the same from many here in Oz of that you can be sure..........however having heard and seen(on video) Shigo explain how important it is not to stop questioning everything, making certain (or as ceretain as we can) that we understand what is happening inside the tree why, how when and where. He always seemed only too willing to aknowledge that the work didn't stop with his writings, rather that is where it starts.
I like to believe that he would have no qualms about Arbs trying to make the model fit more accurately what they are actually seeing inside the trees they dissect, by altering the emphasis from decay to disfunction. He would want that change carefully explained justified and demonstrated for sure. |
You are, of course, completely right, Sean.
The reaction I guess is not so much for (for) Alex Shigo, the scientist, but more for Shigo, the person. There would be a tendency, probably, to when considering this man and his work, to be maybe an intellectual, somewhat robot-like through decades of research. Maybe like I am thinking of Albert Einstein or someone like him right now. Nothing could be further from reality.
I was lucky enough (and to have enough foresight) to have spent hundreds of hours with him (among differing size groups) choosing to base most of my education time on him from 1980 on. I can fly for free as my wife worked for the airlines.
He was a father figure to me having lost my father around that time. He was that way to many. He was mainly a mentor. He would often go off on tangents philosophizing and joking with a magical personality about so many things that he made you feel whole, if you know what I mean. He always had time for you and made you feel like you were the only important thing in the world when you spoke with him personally. Everyone he was involved with lifted their game a little no matter where that game started or ended. He made one feel good about themselves. He was the ultimate teacher, as his best friend, Charley Owen once said, and that was a large part of his genus.
So excuse me if I overreact to any perceived slight, right or wrong, much like someone would for parents, siblings or good friends you would stand up for.
Again, you re completely right. Have the passion and question everything and if you want to make a point, make sure it is based in research involving the scientific method.
