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Unrooted: Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save an Old Science
An exploration of science, motherhood, and academia, and a stirring account of a woman at a personal and professional crossroads.
Growing up in rural Ontario, Erin Zimmerman became fascinated with plants—an obsession that led to a life in academia as a professional botanist. But as her career choices narrowed in the face of failing institutions and subtle, but ubiquitous, sexism, Zimmerman began to doubt herself.
Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save an Old Science is a scientist’s memoir, a glimpse into the ordinary life of someone in a fascinating field. This is a memoir about plants, about looking at the world with wonder, and about what it means to be a woman in academia—an environment that pushes out mothers and those with any outside responsibilities. Zimmerman delves into her experiences as a new mom, her decision to leave her position in post-graduate research, and how she found a new way to stay in the field she loves.
She also explores botany as a “dying science” worth fighting for. While still an undergrad, Zimmerman’s university started the process of closing the Botany Department, a sign of waning funding for her beloved science. Still, she argues for its continuation, not only because we have at least 100,000 plant species yet to be discovered, but because an understanding of botany is crucial in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.
Zimmerman is also a botanical illustrator and will provide 12 original illustrations for the book.
Growing up in rural Ontario, Erin Zimmerman became fascinated with plants—an obsession that led to a life in academia as a professional botanist. But as her career choices narrowed in the face of failing institutions and subtle, but ubiquitous, sexism, Zimmerman began to doubt herself.
Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save an Old Science is a scientist’s memoir, a glimpse into the ordinary life of someone in a fascinating field. This is a memoir about plants, about looking at the world with wonder, and about what it means to be a woman in academia—an environment that pushes out mothers and those with any outside responsibilities. Zimmerman delves into her experiences as a new mom, her decision to leave her position in post-graduate research, and how she found a new way to stay in the field she loves.
She also explores botany as a “dying science” worth fighting for. While still an undergrad, Zimmerman’s university started the process of closing the Botany Department, a sign of waning funding for her beloved science. Still, she argues for its continuation, not only because we have at least 100,000 plant species yet to be discovered, but because an understanding of botany is crucial in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.
Zimmerman is also a botanical illustrator and will provide 12 original illustrations for the book.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published April 16, 2024
22 people are currently reading
2751 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 18, 2024
The knowledge base of natural history is under threat as research funding is increasingly focussed on fast-paced, short-term experimental work over the slower-paced, longer-term observational work necessary to build and maintain it. I felt compelled to write this book because it seems to be a problem that everyone in biological research and almost no one outside of it is aware of. Like many of the extinctions quietly proceeding around the world, it just isn’t something we hear about. We as citizens and stewards of this planet owe it to ourselves and our children to be aware not only of the issue but of the opportunities we have to contribute to its solution.
Unrooted is one scientist’s story of what led her to the field of Botany, the changes she witnessed within the grind of academia as she pursued her PhD, and the impossibility of finding employment in her field after proudly earning her doctorate (a situation made dramatically worse once she became a mother). Erin Zimmerman writes in a clear and engaging voice — whether describing the electric jolt of reading Charles Darwin’s own handwriting on a specimen’s label at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, or the indignity of having to squirrel herself away in a musty change room to pump breast milk as a postdoc, this is a beautiful blend of memoir, science history, and an impassioned defence of the importance of her disappearing field of expertise. This is exactly the sort of thing I like — I learned a lot and was affected, heart and mind; I couldn’t ask for more and wish Dr Zimmerman nothing but success. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
Sitting down to my stack of herbarium specimens and alcohol-preserved flowers every day felt like losing myself in a good book. Scientific research topics can seem narrow to the point of absurdity, like an entire career spent on a single species, but ask any scientist, and they’ll tell you that there really is a lifetime’s worth of discovery there. It speaks to the complexity of our universe that even the thinnest slices can be so expansive. To me, sustained, close attention to a little-regarded slice of that universe felt spiritual, like time spent in quiet worship before a vast and intricate cosmos, trying to know it just a little bit better.
Technically a taxonomist (Zimmerman could spend whole days in close scrutiny of plant parts, sketching what she saw with the delightfully anachronistic use of pen and ink) with an eventual focus on Dialiinae (in the legume family, but more exotic than just peas and beans), Zimmerman’s work was not unlike that of the early collectors like Joseph Banks and Alexander von Humboldt. What was particularly fascinating to me was to learn that Herbariums around the world are filled with thousands of samples dating back to the days of these early world-wide adventurers, some of them hundreds of years old, which have never been through the hands of a trained taxonomist (and even if some of these sample types have already been described, each unique sample — with its known date and location of collection, along with anything peculiar to the sample itself — would contain a wealth of information about climate, the environment, and challenges to growth). But as Zimmerman made her way through her postgraduate work, she watched as the discipline of Botany was folded into generic Biology departments, those researchers who were known in the field as taxonomists were changing their focus to computer-aided dna analysis (because that’s where the funding is), and even her own future husband dropped out of academia to pursue an education with a guaranteed job at the end. Zimmerman makes the case that the sort of work she did — slow and methodical, at the human scale — is imperative for making the kind of discoveries that make people care about the world and its disappearing species; as Damon Little of the New York Botanical Garden said, “If something doesn’t have a name, you can’t conserve it.” (It is estimated that there are 350 000 or more unknown/unnamed plant species.)
I appreciated everything Zimmerman shares about her experience as a woman in science — from some incredible female mentors to the male supervisor who patronisingly spoke to her with a hand on her knee — and her historical overview of women in the field (from sample collecting seen as a gentile hobby for gentlewomen, to men erecting an ivory tower around the field when they decided to make Botany a “serious” science), and as she watched the pathway to tenure become ever narrower in her field of expertise (less than twenty-five per cent of PhDs will eventually find themselves with a tenured position), the reality of motherhood seemed to close that door to Zimmerman for good.
There was no one dramatic incident that extinguished my desire to be in research. What I’d faced was an environment in which I was under strong pressure to never need accommodation, to never let anyone see that I had other loyalties in my life. It was a death by a thousand tiny cuts. And that’s what makes this story important, because I suspect that’s how it is for many of the nearly half of all women in science who leave after becoming mothers. Each time you’re made to feel unprofessional for having caregiving responsibilities, each time you’re made to feel like a burden for requesting minor accommodation . . . it wears you down a little more. You believe that you are the problem. And when the reward at the end of those years of hard work and low pay are far from assured, it doesn’t take a PhD to figure out you might be happier and better off elsewhere, no matter how much you loved the actual science and the questions you were trying to answer.
Unrooted ends on a positive note — Zimmerman has found a career in science writing that allows her to balance her work and family responsibilities — but she continues to stress that Botany matters in our threatened world. I loved everything about this — the science, the exposé of persistent sexism and grant-chasing in academia, and Zimmerman’s personal history — and would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Lab Girl or Braiding Sweetgrass.
April 8, 2024
The cover of Unrooted is beautifully captivating. Although I’m not knowledgeable in botany, the description drew me in. Weaving between recounting amazing adventures of collecting plant specimens, and reiterating the importance of continuing to discover new plant species, Unrooted impressively convinces the reader why this work is important. I found myself caring about a topic that I’d never given much thought, and those educated on this topic will certainly appreciate the passion in this story. Unrooted discusses the impact of climate change on plant life and how studying plants can inform scientists about climate change. Ultimately, this ties into the importance of furthering future interest in this subject. Unfortunately, it’s difficult for passionate scientists to make a living in academia, especially after becoming mothers or those with external responsibilities.
The author’s adventures take her all across the world, to Montreal, England, Guyana and more. Sprinkled with beautiful botanical illustrations, Unrooted makes the reader appreciate the smaller details in life. I often found myself thinking, what might I notice if I slowed down and looked closer at the things I take for granted? I felt like I’d entered the mind of the author as a young child and was focusing through a microscope with her.
As the author says, “There is an indescribable magic to seeing something truly new to humanity, even if it’s just a few square microns of a big universe”. And I could feel that magic.
This powerful story will help you understand the importance of plant life, and if you’re lucky, remind you to take a moment to focus on the small beauties in life as well.
The author’s adventures take her all across the world, to Montreal, England, Guyana and more. Sprinkled with beautiful botanical illustrations, Unrooted makes the reader appreciate the smaller details in life. I often found myself thinking, what might I notice if I slowed down and looked closer at the things I take for granted? I felt like I’d entered the mind of the author as a young child and was focusing through a microscope with her.
As the author says, “There is an indescribable magic to seeing something truly new to humanity, even if it’s just a few square microns of a big universe”. And I could feel that magic.
This powerful story will help you understand the importance of plant life, and if you’re lucky, remind you to take a moment to focus on the small beauties in life as well.
March 22, 2024
Strongly recommend this beautiful book about plants, motherhood, academia, and the power of naming things.
April 4, 2024
A great read.
January 3, 2024
Fascinating , intriguing and beautiful written Unrooted brings readers into the world of natural history in an approachable and meaningful way highlighting this important scientific work and how many women as slowly being pushed out of science because motherhood is not accommodated and space is not made for a women to hold both roles.
Highly recommend and will be interested to see what she writes next.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the early digital copy
Highly recommend and will be interested to see what she writes next.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the early digital copy
August 21, 2024
"A life in science is a series of contradictions you must try to hold side by side. We pride ourselves on being smart, but secretly feel stupid. We work long hours, but worry it’s never enough. We know a great deal about our fields, but years of study have also made us acutely aware of how little we really know. It’s a constant pull between feeling proud and never feeling that you’re good enough."
Yes! Another book written by a now former scientist that blends education, passion and criticism of modern science that is extremely informative, compassionate, infuriating at times and very accurate.
I will admit to being one of those people who wondered if taxonomy will have a future in the world of fast pace molecular biology but the author created multiple compelling arguments about the necessity for such an art, whose long term impact is undeniable. I learned a lot from the book.
And I also got very angry at how the author finally had to decide between jumping through a ton of unreasonable hoops vs quitting academia. While she claims she doesn't consider her case bad and that she wasn't harassed, I beg to disagree. The systemic pervasive disrespect and illegal activities of the lab (such as refusing her a clean place to pump) count very much as discrimination. And I think she is aware of that to a certain degree "How had I once been worth six figures in doctoral scholarship money but now wasn’t worth a clean pumping space?" "Each time you’re made to feel unprofessional for having caregiving responsibilities, each time you’re made to feel like a burden for requesting minor accommodation…it wears you down a little more. You believe that you are the problem." And the final chapters pay close attention to the way science has systemically excluded talented people based on their gender, race and social status. I could write an entire essay about exactly how pervasive and toxic academia is for women--after all, at the end of my PhD in Germany I was told to my face that I won't be hired as a Postdoc because I'm a woman and I'm married and they can't afford me to go on mat-leave (fun fact, I never had children, but simply having a uterus was for some people with a PhD a reason to not even give me a chance--I'm talking not even look at my CV). But I think the author does an excellent job at explaining why we need to shatter the doors to the academic Ivory Tower; it's not just because we have too many white men in there, but because we can't afford to exclude the talented people we're losing due to antiquated practices and ideas in the current urgent climate. As the author excellently put it: "I was told as I began my career that in science, there’s always room for the best. But done right, there’s room for everyone. There has to be." I was delighted to read this author's debut and I cannot wait to read more from her.
Yes! Another book written by a now former scientist that blends education, passion and criticism of modern science that is extremely informative, compassionate, infuriating at times and very accurate.
I will admit to being one of those people who wondered if taxonomy will have a future in the world of fast pace molecular biology but the author created multiple compelling arguments about the necessity for such an art, whose long term impact is undeniable. I learned a lot from the book.
And I also got very angry at how the author finally had to decide between jumping through a ton of unreasonable hoops vs quitting academia. While she claims she doesn't consider her case bad and that she wasn't harassed, I beg to disagree. The systemic pervasive disrespect and illegal activities of the lab (such as refusing her a clean place to pump) count very much as discrimination. And I think she is aware of that to a certain degree "How had I once been worth six figures in doctoral scholarship money but now wasn’t worth a clean pumping space?" "Each time you’re made to feel unprofessional for having caregiving responsibilities, each time you’re made to feel like a burden for requesting minor accommodation…it wears you down a little more. You believe that you are the problem." And the final chapters pay close attention to the way science has systemically excluded talented people based on their gender, race and social status. I could write an entire essay about exactly how pervasive and toxic academia is for women--after all, at the end of my PhD in Germany I was told to my face that I won't be hired as a Postdoc because I'm a woman and I'm married and they can't afford me to go on mat-leave (fun fact, I never had children, but simply having a uterus was for some people with a PhD a reason to not even give me a chance--I'm talking not even look at my CV). But I think the author does an excellent job at explaining why we need to shatter the doors to the academic Ivory Tower; it's not just because we have too many white men in there, but because we can't afford to exclude the talented people we're losing due to antiquated practices and ideas in the current urgent climate. As the author excellently put it: "I was told as I began my career that in science, there’s always room for the best. But done right, there’s room for everyone. There has to be." I was delighted to read this author's debut and I cannot wait to read more from her.
August 13, 2024
Erin Zimmerman took on a lot with this book - a look inside at a scientist's life, specifically a woman scientist's life, an insightful look at botany and and its particular challenges and rewards in this time of climate change, and the pressures and conflicts facing a well-trained, committed woman in an overwhelmingly male and highly competitive profession as she navigates her childbearing years. All of these subjects are explored in a thoughtful way, and Zimmerman's writing is fully up to the challenge.
The difficulties for a reader is that, simply put, it's a lot for one book. I don't know how one could write a meaningful book without including all these strands, for a just-about-the-science book would be interesting but perhaps misleading, as talking about a demanding career about which one is passionate without including the personal costs - costs that are different from those extracted from men in this profession - would be a gross distortion. I only mention this because there were points where I had to put the book down and allow myself to process what I had read before I could continue.
That said, it was worth it, and I will be thinking about this book for a while to come, and particularly when I consider the difficult choices we, as a society, have to make for the future of this planet and all the living things on it.
The difficulties for a reader is that, simply put, it's a lot for one book. I don't know how one could write a meaningful book without including all these strands, for a just-about-the-science book would be interesting but perhaps misleading, as talking about a demanding career about which one is passionate without including the personal costs - costs that are different from those extracted from men in this profession - would be a gross distortion. I only mention this because there were points where I had to put the book down and allow myself to process what I had read before I could continue.
That said, it was worth it, and I will be thinking about this book for a while to come, and particularly when I consider the difficult choices we, as a society, have to make for the future of this planet and all the living things on it.
July 20, 2024
Beautifully written and compelling.
May 13, 2024
This was a wonderful book, which I recommend to anyone working or interested in science.
With beautiful prose and drawings, Dr. Erin Zimmerman invites us through the “staff only” door at botanical gardens to learn about plants, their study and the importance of observational science. She weaves this with an honest and vulnerable account of her own journey through academia and how it is stacked against women. We need to do better at protecting diversity in research and biodiversity at large!
Knowing Erin personally, this was also a trip down memory lane and I’m grateful for the new insights it gave me. Erin, this is a monument of a first-timer! Academia may have lost a great botanist, but we have gained a gifted writer.
With beautiful prose and drawings, Dr. Erin Zimmerman invites us through the “staff only” door at botanical gardens to learn about plants, their study and the importance of observational science. She weaves this with an honest and vulnerable account of her own journey through academia and how it is stacked against women. We need to do better at protecting diversity in research and biodiversity at large!
Knowing Erin personally, this was also a trip down memory lane and I’m grateful for the new insights it gave me. Erin, this is a monument of a first-timer! Academia may have lost a great botanist, but we have gained a gifted writer.
May 1, 2024
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so seen in a book. While I’m not a botanist, the journey and conflict and joy being a woman and also having a career in STEM was so beautifully explored.
I keep telling people to read it, women and men alike, “this is what it’s like!”
What a beautiful story, beautifully written, a perfect escape while also being a reflection of real life.
I keep telling people to read it, women and men alike, “this is what it’s like!”
What a beautiful story, beautifully written, a perfect escape while also being a reflection of real life.
June 20, 2024
Natural history has been notoriously dismissed or belittled as an insignificant science, pursued by hobbyists who are uninterested in doing analysis, merely concerned with 'pebble-counting' or the leisurely capture and collection of specimens. This book by Dr. Erin Zimmerman seeks to correct this impression, that has unfortunately seen natural history to have fallen out of fashion in favor of lab-heavy fields such as molecular biology or genetics. Dr. Zimmerman argues successfully that natural history is more important than ever, as we prioritize conservation and ecological protection. Learning which species are becoming extinct or endangered requires the first step of naming and identifying the species in question. This identification is necessary to kickstart the process of its documentation, fundraising for its protection, lobbying for its political protection. Furthermore, to perform comparative analytics on climate change's impact on the species over the years, there must be baseline knowledge of its standard seasonal patterns of reproduction, growth, home ranges, morphology, and required elements for survival, that can only be known through patient observation of the species.
It is unfortunate that we are losing out on so much knowledge of the wonderful breadth and variety of life in our planet, in this unprecedented era of mass of extinctions, partly because observational science and natural history has fallen out of vogue. Thus Dr. Zimmerman shows in this book the importance of preserving and maintaining herbariums, physical records of the samples and type specimens of a wonderful range of species, passed on from generation to generation of committed botanists.
Interspersed in this book is Dr. Zimmerman's struggles to stay afloat in botany, which is a shrinking department in a lot of universities. Her anxieties about the reduced number of positions and opportunities in academia, especially in her field of botany or observational biology, are anxieties that she points out are common among many talented, devoted, early-career researchers. Furthermore, she also explores how women have additional obstacles due to the primary responsibilities of childcare that could stonewall one's research development, in an environment where publishing early and often is crucial.
Whether exploring in the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew or the rainforests of Guyana, Dr. Zimmerman takes the reader on a colorful behind-the-scenes tour of the fruitful life of a botany PhD. I highly recommend this wonderful book for those interested in botany and nature.
It is unfortunate that we are losing out on so much knowledge of the wonderful breadth and variety of life in our planet, in this unprecedented era of mass of extinctions, partly because observational science and natural history has fallen out of vogue. Thus Dr. Zimmerman shows in this book the importance of preserving and maintaining herbariums, physical records of the samples and type specimens of a wonderful range of species, passed on from generation to generation of committed botanists.
Interspersed in this book is Dr. Zimmerman's struggles to stay afloat in botany, which is a shrinking department in a lot of universities. Her anxieties about the reduced number of positions and opportunities in academia, especially in her field of botany or observational biology, are anxieties that she points out are common among many talented, devoted, early-career researchers. Furthermore, she also explores how women have additional obstacles due to the primary responsibilities of childcare that could stonewall one's research development, in an environment where publishing early and often is crucial.
Whether exploring in the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew or the rainforests of Guyana, Dr. Zimmerman takes the reader on a colorful behind-the-scenes tour of the fruitful life of a botany PhD. I highly recommend this wonderful book for those interested in botany and nature.
April 27, 2024
Do you LOVE plants? You like a good memoir? Natural History and Biodiversity? Are you interested in getting a peak behind the academic curtain? Or perhaps you are a seasoned academic and like other perspectives. This book can be so many things to so many different kinds of readers.
As a friend and colleague of Erin throughout her career, I can attest to the truthfulness, tact and humility she has written this part memoir part scientific exploration. I found myself in so many cases walking down memory lane and at the same time learning new and interesting things about her journey. She has displayed an enormous amount of vulnerability in writing this book and I loved getting to know her even better this way.
At the same time I can attest to the rigour with which factual science has been researched and presented. It is truly an excellent look at the history of biodiversity science (with a focus on botany) right up to the present day. The interviews from experts on the topics of today and the manner with which it is written make it all so accessible, interesting and unique. This is truly a wonderful examination of what Western science has contributed to biodiversity science, the many pitfalls along the way and hopefully solutions or areas we can address to combat the twin crises of Biodiversity loss and Climate Change. If you read up on Indigenous-led biodiversity work, alongside this work you will be well prepared to start understanding where we must go in terms of doing better for the planet.
In my mind this is a must read for aspiring and seasoned academics (especially academic supervisors), the folks that fund and support them. It is also interesting to anyone with a love of art and science (she has produced beautiful scientific drawings and explores the importance of drawings vs. photographs). Those who love a good memoir and even a love story (yes Eric really is that lovely in real life). There are certainly interesting aspects for mothers (who perhaps did not plan it that way), and those interested in women's experience in science as well. In many ways this is a coming of age story of a scientist which may sound dry to say it like that but the adventure, love, personal growth and so on described make it a real page turner.
Pick it up! you won't be disappointed!
As a friend and colleague of Erin throughout her career, I can attest to the truthfulness, tact and humility she has written this part memoir part scientific exploration. I found myself in so many cases walking down memory lane and at the same time learning new and interesting things about her journey. She has displayed an enormous amount of vulnerability in writing this book and I loved getting to know her even better this way.
At the same time I can attest to the rigour with which factual science has been researched and presented. It is truly an excellent look at the history of biodiversity science (with a focus on botany) right up to the present day. The interviews from experts on the topics of today and the manner with which it is written make it all so accessible, interesting and unique. This is truly a wonderful examination of what Western science has contributed to biodiversity science, the many pitfalls along the way and hopefully solutions or areas we can address to combat the twin crises of Biodiversity loss and Climate Change. If you read up on Indigenous-led biodiversity work, alongside this work you will be well prepared to start understanding where we must go in terms of doing better for the planet.
In my mind this is a must read for aspiring and seasoned academics (especially academic supervisors), the folks that fund and support them. It is also interesting to anyone with a love of art and science (she has produced beautiful scientific drawings and explores the importance of drawings vs. photographs). Those who love a good memoir and even a love story (yes Eric really is that lovely in real life). There are certainly interesting aspects for mothers (who perhaps did not plan it that way), and those interested in women's experience in science as well. In many ways this is a coming of age story of a scientist which may sound dry to say it like that but the adventure, love, personal growth and so on described make it a real page turner.
Pick it up! you won't be disappointed!
April 2, 2024
This is a story about a motherless child who grew up in the green heart of Ontario’s farmland. She recounts her memories of childhood, surrounded by corn. As she grew older, she worked with corn plants that towered high above her head. Is this where her love of plants took a firm hold in her mind and in her heart?
Regardless, plants became her passion. She draws them, she writes about them, she studies them and talks about them with (I imagine) light in her eyes. That passion for plants took root and propelled her through many years of college, and in her twenties, Dr. Zimmerman earned her PhD.
This is where she learned that sometimes women’s dreams, talents, and passions collide with reality. Dr. Zimmerman had her first child during her post-doctoral training. Although she enjoyed (generous to those for the US, scandalous to those from Canada) four months of maternity leave, a newborn and a high-pressure post-doc don’t mix. Unless a young family has support.
This is a story about how maybe mothers can’t have it all, unless they are born to money or privilege, or have access to significant family and community support. When young families move away from their home communities to take jobs, frequently, they have neither.
This is a story about how and why we are losing a large percentage of talented professionals from academia and other scientific institutions, because they are pressured to choose: family or profession. Yet this is our great loss―we are at a critical time where we need all hands on deck to work towards an abundant future. Dr. Zimmerman is a shining example of how great minds can continue to contribute to the work outside of today’s restrictive, exclusive scientific training structure.
This book is perfect for those who love the study of plants and want to learn more about how plants are identified, characterized, and named. It dives deep into how plants are classified and how they relate to other plants in their structure, function, and genetic composition. It’s required reading for those considering a professional career in the field of botany.
I appreciate the opportunity to read an early copy of this work.
Regardless, plants became her passion. She draws them, she writes about them, she studies them and talks about them with (I imagine) light in her eyes. That passion for plants took root and propelled her through many years of college, and in her twenties, Dr. Zimmerman earned her PhD.
This is where she learned that sometimes women’s dreams, talents, and passions collide with reality. Dr. Zimmerman had her first child during her post-doctoral training. Although she enjoyed (generous to those for the US, scandalous to those from Canada) four months of maternity leave, a newborn and a high-pressure post-doc don’t mix. Unless a young family has support.
This is a story about how maybe mothers can’t have it all, unless they are born to money or privilege, or have access to significant family and community support. When young families move away from their home communities to take jobs, frequently, they have neither.
This is a story about how and why we are losing a large percentage of talented professionals from academia and other scientific institutions, because they are pressured to choose: family or profession. Yet this is our great loss―we are at a critical time where we need all hands on deck to work towards an abundant future. Dr. Zimmerman is a shining example of how great minds can continue to contribute to the work outside of today’s restrictive, exclusive scientific training structure.
This book is perfect for those who love the study of plants and want to learn more about how plants are identified, characterized, and named. It dives deep into how plants are classified and how they relate to other plants in their structure, function, and genetic composition. It’s required reading for those considering a professional career in the field of botany.
I appreciate the opportunity to read an early copy of this work.
December 29, 2024
Vilken trevlig läsning. Lärde mig både mer om
botanikens historia och fick bekräftelse på att jag inte var ensam i några av mina egna upplevelser som botanikdoktorand. Ett fint exempel på att det kan vara fruktansvärt jobbigt att behöva ge upp sina livsplaner man haft så länge, men att det kan ordna sig på andra sätt ändå.
Bra observation (s. 135): The low impact factors [of taxonomic publications] are due to the fact thst taxonomic descriptions are rarely cited by other papers. Unlike other research findings, these descriptions need not be cited when they are used in work that builds upon them. What’s more, there’s nonconsoderation made for the fact that, while a ”normal” piece of published research may only remain current and relevant for a few years, or even a few months, taxonomic descriptions can remain relevant for centuries. Therefore, despite being the absolute foundation that every other piece of research rests upon, they are rarely cited and therefore appear, in terms of their metrics, to not be of great value to the scientific community. A researcher could have many publications to their name, but if they’re all taxonomic, tje person may not be looked highly upon by hiring tenure committees.
Enda skälet till att det tog två och en halv månad för mig att läsa klart var pga dess format som e-bok.
botanikens historia och fick bekräftelse på att jag inte var ensam i några av mina egna upplevelser som botanikdoktorand. Ett fint exempel på att det kan vara fruktansvärt jobbigt att behöva ge upp sina livsplaner man haft så länge, men att det kan ordna sig på andra sätt ändå.
Bra observation (s. 135): The low impact factors [of taxonomic publications] are due to the fact thst taxonomic descriptions are rarely cited by other papers. Unlike other research findings, these descriptions need not be cited when they are used in work that builds upon them. What’s more, there’s nonconsoderation made for the fact that, while a ”normal” piece of published research may only remain current and relevant for a few years, or even a few months, taxonomic descriptions can remain relevant for centuries. Therefore, despite being the absolute foundation that every other piece of research rests upon, they are rarely cited and therefore appear, in terms of their metrics, to not be of great value to the scientific community. A researcher could have many publications to their name, but if they’re all taxonomic, tje person may not be looked highly upon by hiring tenure committees.
Enda skälet till att det tog två och en halv månad för mig att läsa klart var pga dess format som e-bok.
June 26, 2024
In a bell jar on my desk is one of perhaps only a few hundred living individuals of a plant that 50 years ago grew where a Malaysian oil palm plantation now stands. As a student of plant morphology, I studied and photographed its developmental anatomy and now I am simply preserving it. Like the author of "Unrooted," I loved my plants and traveled the world to collect and study them.
But in the end, there was no job in botany for either of us. And among our student peers, most of those who went on to permanent positions had little interest in natural history and dealt mostly in data points.
Erin Zimmerman tells my story. And in reflecting upon her experience, she draws attention not only to the ongoing loss of biodiversity but also to our decreasing capacity to understand and study and record it.
This is an important book, and I intend to share it widely.
But in the end, there was no job in botany for either of us. And among our student peers, most of those who went on to permanent positions had little interest in natural history and dealt mostly in data points.
Erin Zimmerman tells my story. And in reflecting upon her experience, she draws attention not only to the ongoing loss of biodiversity but also to our decreasing capacity to understand and study and record it.
This is an important book, and I intend to share it widely.
October 14, 2024
A scientist’s memoir, a glimpse into the ordinary life of someone in a fascinating field. This is a memoir about plants, about looking at the world with wonder, and about what it means to be a woman in academia—an environment that pushes out mothers and those with any outside responsibilities. Zimmerman delves into her experiences as a new mom, her decision to leave her position in post-graduate research, and how she found a new way to stay in the field she loves. The early part of the book is fascinating, the study of plants, the taxonomy, the systematics, the hundreds of years old herbaria and how botanists and naturalists work. A little heavy on the "victim" of women scientist, although I believe her experience are common but not only among women.
December 28, 2023
Fascinating. As someone who enjoys spending time in nature, is concerned about climate change and the impact on species, has worked in academia (in an increasingly marginalised discipline) and also juggled the competing demands of career and motherhood, I thoroughly enjoyed this title.
We helped our son create a 100 species herbarium for one of his college courses. It was amazing what we found on our own property when we slowed down and walked through the woods with our eyes down to the ground, instead of our usual fast-paced hiking with eyes looking up and ahead.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy.
We helped our son create a 100 species herbarium for one of his college courses. It was amazing what we found on our own property when we slowed down and walked through the woods with our eyes down to the ground, instead of our usual fast-paced hiking with eyes looking up and ahead.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy.
July 8, 2025
I enjoy reading about women in science - and the author is clearly very into her field (botany) and does a great job explaining her passion and the importance of (and near-extinction of) plant taxonomy to science as a whole. While some of the science may come off as 'dull', I appreciate how the author interwove her own story of coming to motherhood. It was deeply personal and yet exposes how women cannot achieve the same career success as men if they choose to bear children - and led to yet another lively debate between my husband and I.
June 28, 2025
Women in science…specifically mothers who work in science but probably the story of all mothers who work outside of the home, and how they make choices.
The author loved her legumes, her plants, botany, the academic challenges ALMOST as much as she loved her kids.
What to do???? Being she was just one person???
Lovely book, well-written and kind of wrapped and tied up in the last chapters.
The author loved her legumes, her plants, botany, the academic challenges ALMOST as much as she loved her kids.
What to do???? Being she was just one person???
Lovely book, well-written and kind of wrapped and tied up in the last chapters.
April 29, 2024
I loved “Unrooted”. It’s so incredibly well written. I felt like I was right there beside the author experiencing her life. This is such a perfect balance between learning about the history of natural sciences and her own personal memoir. Anyone that cares about citizen science or anyone in general that cares about our planet, should read this book!!
June 3, 2024
Botanist and mother Erin Zimmerman gives her personal history as a woman in the male-dominated field of science, examining in particular why a large percentage of women drop out of science, especially when they have children. "Unrooted" is both a lesson in botany and a highly compelling memoir of the intersections between science and motherhood in Zimmerman's life.
June 10, 2024
I resonated so much with this book. While in a different field than myself, Zimmerman's experiences and thoughts have heavily paralleled those my own and exemplify how, even in the 21st century, the leaky pipeline perpetuates and the struggles for women in science have changed little. Her narrative gave me much food for thought as I navigate my own journey. I also dearly loved her illustrations.
August 12, 2024
How can women who love both science and their families do both in the highly competitive, all-consuming work world of academics, let alone in the under-funded field of botany? The truth seems to be, they can’t, at least not these days. As an avid naturalist, and a woman who navigated the work-kids life for over twenty years, I read Zimmerman’s book with great interest and look forward to more.
April 2, 2024
This book was beautifully written. Erin has a way of making you feel and see the world through her eyes and experiences. Her excitement for Botany is evident and she explains things fully but with such description that you feel that same excitement.
October 1, 2024
This was a gorgeous book— interesting and informative on a topic outside my expertise (botany), insightful and familiar on one closer to home (the systemic difficulty of holding both motherhood and vocation).
May 5, 2024
It is a wonderfully written book about such important topics. Her humor, vulnerability, adventures, and incredible knowledge kept me thoroughly intrigued. Well done!
July 15, 2024
It's a good read and important to understanding how our scientific culture forces mothers into a difficult position.
August 10, 2024
A fascinating blend of science, history and memoir, and a strong critique of how academia and the research sector treat women and mothers. So discouraging that women are still having to make choices between a career they love and their families.
September 10, 2024
disappointed because in the end she does leave her field to become a mother. System doesnt change. Im glad she incorporated her botanical illustrations though
September 12, 2025
As a mother and botanist, this book was just what I needed to hear as I turn 50. There is still hope for me.
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