Copyright Date:
2015
Edition Date:
2015
Release Date:
03/24/15
Pages:
xxv, 277 pages
ISBN:
0-465-05599-0
ISBN 13:
978-0-465-05599-9
Dewey:
581.4
LCCN:
2014047078
Dimensions:
22 cm.
Language:
English
Reviews:
Starred Review ALA Booklist
(Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2015)
Starred Review Conservation biologist Hanson follows Feathers (2011) with a book inspired, in part, by his young son's preternatural fascination with seeds. Jocular and entertaining in his dispensing of remarkable facts about these little vessels of life-to-be, Hanson shares tales of his Central American field work (snakes and all) studying the stone-hard almendo seed, which grows into a long-lived, 150-foot, rain forest giant supporting an entire, seething ecosystem. This inspires Hanson to vividly describe the evolutionary "virtual arms race" between seeds and seed-eaters. As he visits with seed experts around the world, Hanson marvels over the amazing energetics of seeds, the evolutionary impact of our ancestors' consumption of seeds, especially cooked grains, and the civilization-shaping "political power of grain." He also chronicles the global impact of coffee and chili peppers and seeds' capacity for dormancy, including one excavated 2000-year-old date palm seed that grew into a 10-foot tree in Israel. From high-tech, high-security seed banks bracing for climate change to the story of the gum extracted from guar seeds that is used in everything from ice cream to fracking, this upbeat and mind-expanding celebration of the might of seeds is popular science writing as its finest.
Bibliography Index/Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-266) and index.
As seen on PBS's American Spring LIVE, the award-winning author of Buzz and Feathers presents a natural and human history of seeds, the marvels of the plant kingdom.
"The genius of Hanson's fascinating, inspiring, and entertaining book stems from the fact that it is not about how all kinds of things grow from seeds; it is about the seeds themselves." -- Mark Kurlansky, New York Times Book Review
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 pepper drove the Age of Discovery, coffee beans fueled the Enlightenment and cottonseed sparked the Industrial Revolution. Seeds are fundamental objects of beauty, evolutionary wonders, and simple fascinations. Yet, despite their importance, seeds are often seen as commonplace, their extraordinary natural and human histories overlooked. Thanks to this stunning new book, they can be overlooked no more. 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 fascinating scientific adventure, it is essential reading for anyone who loves to see a plant grow.