Yesterday’s New York Times has a fantastically illustrated article on dendrochronology, the science of studying tree rings. I’ve mentioned dendrochronology in a few posts here in connection to the process of calibrating the results of radiocarbon analysis (for instance, here). The article is by Daniel Griffin (University of Minnesota) with graphics by Nathaniel Lash. The point of the article is the ongoing drought in the western United States, but the general discussion of dendrochronology is very clear, and the illustrations are wonderful. Check it out here: