Ascolta answers “Are there any experts that can speak to...”

Josh Hedgepeth asked this question about The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World:

Are there any experts that can speak to the quality of the science in this book?

Ascolta I'm not an expert of science, but of history — and I extrapolate that Pollan takes a similar standard for approaching both topics. He's willing to ove…moreI'm not an expert of science, but of history — and I extrapolate that Pollan takes a similar standard for approaching both topics. He's willing to overstate in order to make a point, to create a compelling story. He's a journalist. His work is fun to read, undoubtedly. His love of spinning a good tale also renders his accuracy at around the level of Wikipedia, if you know what I mean. Reading any Wikipedia article on a topic I'm *actually* an expert in makes it clear how much it is narrowly shaped by the interests of its authors. Thus minor points get inflated via long sections, and thus seem of outsized importance to the casual reader. Points the author disagrees with, or doesn't like, or hasn't thought of are simply omitted.

(Obviously this can also be true of any academic work - but since Pollan doesn't include footnotes, it's impossible to trace his sources outside of the personal anecdotes.)(less)

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The Botany of Desire

by Michael Pollan (Goodreads Author)

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