Dendrologists, who study the growth patterns and structures of trees, say that Leonardo's Rule of Trees is spot on.

The Old World’s surliest dendrologists notch their bows.

The Old World’s surliest dendrologists notch their bows.

The Old World’s surliest dendrologists notch their bows.

On the foothills of the mountains, by the banks of the river in Cortina, there was a forest. It was full of tall larch trees. Arborists said the oldest of them had been there for 150 years and dendrologists that it was unique because it was unusual to find a monocultural forest growing at such a low altitude in the southern Alps. The locals knew mostly it was the place where the old wooden bobsleigh run was, where you went on your walks in summer or autumn, or when you wanted to play tennis on the small courts built near the bottom. They called it the Bosco di Ronco and it isn’t there any more. Sustainability is the great lie of these Games. It was written all through the bid document and the International Olympic Committee has slapped it across all manner of promotional literature. “For the IOC, for sport in general, sustainability is a priority,” said the executive director of the Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi. If you want more details, the IOC can give you any amount of information about its low carbon transport plan and how it is only using recyclable cutlery and linen tablecloths. It will tell...

By boring into trees to pull out a small core, dendrologists are able to reconstruct Earth's history since the tree began to grow.