Wood has been used and adapted by humans since the earliest recognition that they could make use of the materials they found around them; they used it to meet a varying array of human needs, in peace and in war, in farming and in industry. People gradually came to understand something of the unique nature of wood. Its properties were first understood by experience, more recently by systematic research and refined observation. Wood is still essential to human life, but has evolved over the ages from a simple, readily available natural material to a modern industrial and engineering material, with a unique ability to contribute to human life both as a material for use and as a key element in the natural world of the forest.

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