The History Book Club discussion
HEALTH- MEDICINE - SCIENCE
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BOTANY AND THE BOTANICAL SCIENCES
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Michael PollanGoodreads Synopsis:
Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom?
A new release, looks intriguing:
by Bill LawsThe fascinating stories of the plants that changed civilizations.
Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History is a beautifully presented guide to the plants that have had the greatest impact on human civilization. Entries feature a description of the plant, its botanical name, its native range and its primary functions -- edible, medicinal, commercial or practical. Concise text is highlighted by elegant botanical drawings, paintings and photographs as well as insightful quotes.
Many of the plants are well known, such as rice, tea, cotton, rubber, wheat, sugarcane, tobacco, wine grapes and corn. However, there are also many whose stories are less known. These history-changing plants include:
Agave, used to make sisal, poison arrows, bullets, tequila and surgical thread
Pineapple, which influenced the construction of greenhouses and conservatories
Hemp, used for hangman's rope, sustainable plastics, the Declaration of Independence and Levi's jeans
Coconut, used for coir fiber, soap, margarine, cream, sterile IV drips and coagulants
Eucalyptus, used in mouthwash, diuretics, vitamins, honey, underwear and fire-resistant uniforms
Sweet pea, which Gregor Mendel used in his research on genetic heredity
White mulberry, used to make silk
English oak, used for fire-resistant structures, dyes, leather tanning, charcoal, casks and ships
White willow, used in the manufacture of aspirin, cricket bats, hot-air balloon baskets and coffins
This attractive reference provides an innovative perspective on both botanical and human history.
Mod
So glad you passed this along, Alisa. Another good book that overlaps history and botany is 
by Glynis Ridley
This sounds like a beautiful and interesting read for plant lovers.Goodreads blurb:
"Flora Mirabilis is a sumptuously designed showcase of superb illustrations paired with fascinating stories of botanical exploration and trade through the ages. A collaboration between National Geographic and the world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden, this book will prove an evergreen source of delight, not just for gardeners and flower aficionados, but for anyone interested in the plant world, human civilization, and their intertwined histories.
From prehistory to the present day, Flora Mirabilis blossoms with legend and lore as it culls the most engrossing mysteries and adventures of plant exploration, science, and discovery and garlands them with astonishingly beautiful illustrations. These lavish pages are abloom with the rich details and engaging allure of beloved flowers, stunning gardens, ancient trees, medicinal herbs, and valuable plants of all varieties from around the world. Unique "plant profiles" chronicle the especially remarkable roles each plant has played in matters of economics, politics, and taste.
Illustrated throughout with never-before-published collector’s edition reproductions and introduced with an eloquent foreword by Peter H. Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, this stunning volume will catch eyes and flower in imaginations everywhere."
Catherine H. Howell(no photo)
This looks like a fun and interesting book. Weeds: In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants (no cover photo) by
Richard MabeyThe true story—and true glories—of the plants we love to hate
From dandelions to crabgrass, stinging nettles to poison ivy, weeds are familiar, pervasive, widely despised, and seemingly invincible. How did they come to be the villains of the natural world? And why can the same plant be considered beautiful in some places but be deemed a menace in others?
In Weeds, renowned nature writer Richard Mabey embarks on an engaging journey with the verve and historical breadth of Michael Pollan. Weaving together the insights of botanists, gardeners, artists, and writers with his own travels and lifelong fascination, Mabey shows how these "botanical thugs" can destroy ecosystems but also can restore war zones and derelict cities; he reveals how weeds have been portrayed, from the "thorns and thistles" of Genesis to Shakespeare, Walden, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers; and he explains how kudzu overtook the American South, how poppies sprang up in First World War battlefields, and how "American weed" replaced the forests of Vietnam ravaged by Agent Orange.
Hailed as "a profound and sympathetic meditation on weeds in relation to human beings" (Sunday Times), Weeds shows how useful these unloved plants can be, from serving as the first crops and medicines, to bur-dock inspiring the invention of Velcro, to cow parsley becoming the latest fashionable wedding adornment. Mabey argues that we have caused plants to become weeds through our reckless treatment of the earth, and he delivers a provocative defense of the plants we love to hate.
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Many years ago I used to work for the Jane Goodall Institute and it is a very fine organization. There were concerns about plagiarism in Seeds of Hope when the book was first issued and the publisher pulled it. It has been reissued and below is an article from the Washington Post.I do not in any way believe that Ms. Goodall purposely plagiarized material. It was most likely a researcher or just bad note keeping. Ms. Goodall travels CONSTANTLY trying to share her knowledge and support her Institute. She only has brief periods of time to write. I don't know how she gets anything written. With her schedule I would be totally exhausted.
I will be reading this book and appreciate the review!
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Jane GoodallWashington Post article:
Jane Goodall’s ‘Seeds of Hope’ reissued a year after being pulled from shelves
By Steven Levingston
April 2 at 1:30 pm
Primatologist Jane Goodall acknowledged she was “not methodical enough” in her note-taking for the first edition of her book “Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants,” which was reissued on Tuesday a year after the publisher pulled it from the shelves.
Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, decided to publish the new version after evidence emerged last year that numerous passages in the book had been used from other published sources without attribution.
“Dr. Goodall carefully reviewed her book, made corrections and added 57 pages of endnotes,” Matthew Ballast, executive director of publicity for Grand Central, said in an e-mail.
The borrowed material was revealed in The Washington Post in March 2013.
In an interview published Tuesday with a science Web site, Mosaic, Goodall said that her busy work schedule was partly to blame for the unattributed material. She had been so busy that she failed to properly organize her notes while writing the book, she told the Web site, which is published by a charitable foundation called the Wellcome Trust.
“In some cases,” she said, “you look at my notebooks, there’s no way you can tell whether this is from talking to somebody or whether it was something I read on the internet.”
Goodall said she had learned from the experience. “I shall certainly make sure I know who said something or what I read or where I read it,” she said, insisting she would never knowingly borrow someone else’s material. “I don’t think anybody who knows me would accuse me of deliberate plagiarism.”
In “Seeds of Hope,” Goodall, known for her studies of chimpanzees in the wild, delves into her lifetime love of plants and their impact on the natural world. She provides first-person botanical observations and offers a prescription to protect plants and the planet in this age of environmental crisis.
Here is the URL for the Washington Post article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/s...
A wonderful piece of story telling about the early plant explorers and Britain's gardening obsession.The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire, and the Birth of an Obsession
by Andrea Wulf(no photo)
A couple of other great botanical reads are Margaret Mee's "In search of Flowers of the Amazon Forests"
Margaret Mee: In Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forests: Diaries of an English Artist Reveal the Beauty of the Vanishing Rainforest and F.Kingdon Ward's "Mystery Rivers of Tibet" Mystery Rivers of Tibet
Being a botanist myself, I know how hard it is to travel into remote regions then to settle down and draw the plant or write the detailed descriptions while forgetting about all the bugs and uncomfortable site conditions.
Mod
Release date: July 14, 2015
The Reason for Flowers: Their History, Culture, Biology, and How They Change Our Lives
by Stephen Buchmann (no photo)Synopsis:
Cultural history at its best: he engaging, lively, and definitive story of the beauty, sexuality, ecology, myths, lore, and economics of the world's flowers, written by a passionately devoted author and scientist, and illustrated with his stunning photographs.
Flowers, and the fruits that follow, feed, clothe, sustain, and inspire all humanity. They have done so since before recorded history. Flowers are used to celebrate all-important occasions, to express love, and are also the basis of global industries. Americans buy ten million flowers a day and perfumes are a worldwide industry worth $30 billion dollars annually. Yet, we know little about flowers, their origins, bizarre sex lives, or how humans relate and depend upon them.
Stephen Buchmann takes us along on an exploratory journey of the roles flowers play in the production of our foods, spices, medicines, perfumes, while simultaneously bringing joy and health. Flowering plants continue to serve as inspiration in our myths and legends, in the fine and decorative arts, and in literary works of prose and poetry. Flowers seduce us, and animals, too, through their myriad shapes, colors, textures, and scents. And because of our extraordinary appetite for more unusual and beautiful super flowers; plant breeders have created such unnatural blooms as blue roses and black petunias to cater to the human world of haute couture fashion. In so doing, the nectar and pollen vital to the bees, butterflies, and bats of the world, are being reduced. Buchmann explains the unfortunate consequences, and explores how to counter them by growing the right flowers. Here, he integrates fascinating stories about the many colorful personalities who populate the world of flowers, and the flowers and pollinators themselves, with a research-based narrative that illuminates just why there is, indeed, a Reason for Flowers.
Spooky!!!The Secret Life of Plants
by
Peter TompkinsSynopsis
Exploring the world of plants and its relation to mankind as revealed by the latest discoveries of scientists, The Secret Life of Plants includes remarkable information about plants as lie detectors and plants as ecological sentinels; it describes their ability to adapt to human wishes, their response to music, their curative powers, and their ability to communicate with man. Authors Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird suggest that the most far-reaching revolution of the 20th century — one that could save or destroy the planet — may come from the bottom of your garden.
I was with some gardening friends the other day. Over lunch, Findhorn and The Secret Life of Plants became a topic of conversation. 2 out of 8 people had actually visited the garden though 12 years apart. The first reported that the garden was overgrown but still interesting in it's layout. The second reported that it had been renovated and remarkable. Both agreed that it proved the best things about gardening, it is a source of enduring fascination and that there is always something to learn.
Botanical Latin
by William T. Stearn (no photo)Synopsis:
Botanical Latin is accepted by horticulturists and botanists everywhere as the medium for naming new plants, and botanical research is almost impossible without reference to the vast number of first descriptions in Latin — much information is available in no other language. For gardeners, too, a working knowledge of botanical Latin is essential for the accurate identification of plants in the garden. Now available in paperback, the fourth edition of this internationally renowned handbook summarizes the grammar and syntax of botanical Latin, and covers the origins of Latin and latinized geographical names, color terms, symbols and abbreviations, diagnoses and descriptions, the formation of names and epithets, and much more. (less)
Cannabis
by Chris Duvall (no photo)Synopsis
Thanks to its best-known use, any mention of cannabis tends to bring up jokes about the munchies or debates about marijuana and legalized drug use. But this not-so-innocent flowering plant was one of the first to be domesticated by humans, and it has been used in spiritual, therapeutic, and even punitive applications ever since—in addition to its more recreational purpose. Despite all the hoopla surrounding cannabis, however, we actually understand relatively little about it in the human and ecological past. In Cannabis, Chris Duvall explores the botanical and cultural history of one of our most widely distributed crops, presenting an even-handed look at this heady little plant.
Providing a global historical geography of cannabis, Duvall discusses the manufacture of hemp and its role in rope-making, clothing, and paper, as well as cannabis’s use as oil and fuel. His focus, though, is on its most prevalent use: as a psychoactive drug. Without advocating for either the prohibition or legalization of the drug, Duvall analyzes a wide range of works to offer a better understanding of both stances and, moreover, the diversity of human-cannabis relationships across the world. In doing so, he corrects the overly simplistic portrayals of cannabis that have dominated discourse on the subject, arguing that we need to understand the big picture in order to improve how the plant is managed worldwide. Richly illustrated and highly accessible, Cannabis is an essential read to understand the rapidly evolving debate over the legalization of marijuana in the United States and other countries.
Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
by
Amy StewartSynopsis:
A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. In Wicked Plants, Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations. It’s an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend. You’ll learn which plants to avoid (like exploding shrubs), which plants make themselves exceedingly unwelcome (like the vine that ate the South), and which ones have been killing for centuries (like the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln's mother).
Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.
Mod
Science and Colonial Expansion: The Role of the British Royal Botanic Garden
by Lucile H. Brockway (no photo)Synopsis:
This work analyzes the political effects of scientific research as exemplified by one field, economic botany, during one epoch, the 19th century, when Great Britain was the world's most powerful nation. Lucile Brockway examines how the British botanic garden network developed and transferred economically important plants to different parts of the world to promote the prosperity of the Empire.
The Private Life of Plants: A Natural History of Plant Behaviour
by
David AttenboroughSynopsis:
Based on the immensely popular six-part BBC program that will air in the United States during the fall of 1995, this book offers what writer/filmmaker David Attenborough is best known for delivering: an intimate view of the natural world wherein a multitude of miniature dramas unfold. In the program and book, both titled The Private Life of Plants, Attenborough treks through rainforests, mountain ranges, deserts, beaches, and home gardens to show us things we might never have suspected about the vegetation that surrounds us. With their extraordinary sensibility, plants compete endlessly for survival and interact with animals and insects: they can see, count, communicate, adjust position, strike, and capture.
Attenborough makes the plant world a vivid place for readers, who in this book can enjoy the tour at their own pace, taking in the lively descriptions and nearly 300 full-color photos showing plants in close detail. The author reveals to us the aspects of plants' lives that seem hidden from view, such as fighting, avoiding or exploiting predators or neighbors, and struggling to find food, increase their territories, reproduce themselves, and establish their place in the sun. Among the most amazing examples, the acacia can communicate with other acacias and repel enemies that might eat their leaves, the orchid can impersonate female wasps to attract males and ensure the spreading of its pollen, the Venus's flytrap can take other organisms captive and consume them.
Covering this remarkable range of information with enthusiasm and clarity, Attenborough helps us to look anew at the vegetation on which all life depends and which has an intriguing life of its own. He has created a booksure to please the plant lover and any other reader interested in exploring the natural world.
Francie wrote: "The Private Life of Plants: A Natural History of Plant Behaviour by [auth..."I have just put this on my to read list. Attenborough can be so entertaining.
Hope you enjoy it. I have it on my TBR, also. Let me know how it is.
The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
by
Thor HansonSynopsis:
Winner of the 2016 PNBA Book Award
A finalist for the 2016 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books, Young Adult Science Book category
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment, and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the Fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.
In nature and in culture, seeds are fundamental—objects of beauty, evolutionary wonder, and simple fascination. How many times has a child dropped the winged pip of a maple, marveling as it spirals its way down to the ground, or relished the way a gust of wind(or a stout breath) can send a dandelion’s feathery flotilla skyward? Yet despite their importance, seeds are often seen as a commonplace, their extraordinary natural and human histories overlooked. Thanks to Thor Hanson and this stunning new book, they can be overlooked no more.
What makes The Triumph of Seeds remarkable is not just that it is informative, humane, hilarious, and even moving, just as what makes seeds remarkable is not simply their fundamental importance to life. In both cases, it is their sheer vitality and the delight that we can take in their existence—the opportunity to experience, as Hanson puts it, “the simple joy of seeing something beautiful, doing what it is meant to do.” Spanning the globe from the Raccoon Shack—Hanson’s backyard writing hideout-cum-laboratory—to the coffee shops of Seattle, from gardens and flower patches to the spice routes of Kerala, this is a book of knowledge, adventure, and wonder, spun by an award-winning writer with both the charm of a fireside story-teller and the hard-won expertise of a field biologist. A worthy heir to the grand tradition of Aldo Leopold and Bernd Heinrich, The Triumph of Seeds takes us on a fascinating scientific adventure through the wild and beautiful world of seeds. It is essential reading for anyone who loves to see a plant grow.
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by
Roger DeakinSynopsis:
Here, published for the first time in the United States, is the last book by Roger Deakin, famed British nature writer and icon of the environmentalist movement. In Deakin's glorious meditation on wood, the "fifth element"as it exists in nature, in our culture, and in our souls the reader accompanies Deakin through the woods of Britain, Europe, Kazakhstan, and Australia in search of what lies behind man's profound and enduring connection with trees.
Deakin lives in forest shacks, goes "coppicing" in Suffolk, swims beneath the walnut trees of the Haut-Languedoc, and hunts bushplums with Aboriginal women in the outback. Along the way, he ferrets out the mysteries of woods, detailing the life stories of the timber beams composing his Elizabethan house and searching for the origin of the apple.
As the world's forests are whittled away, Deakin's sparkling prose evokes woodlands anarchic with life, rendering each tree as an individual, living being. At once a traveler's tale and a splendid work of natural history, Wildwood reveals, amid the world's marvelous diversity, that which is universal in human experience.
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Wildwood: A Journey through Trees (other topics)The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History (other topics)
The Private Life of Plants (other topics)
The Private Life of Plants (other topics)
Science and Colonial Expansion: The Role of the British Royal Botanic Garden (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Roger Deakin (other topics)Thor Hanson (other topics)
David Attenborough (other topics)
David Attenborough (other topics)
Lucile H. Brockway (other topics)
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