Botany of Desire : A Plant's Eye View of the World

Pollan, Michael

Item Information

Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 0375760393
Release Date: 2002-06-01

Erudite, engaging and highly original, journalist Pollan's fascinating account of four everyday plants and their coevolution with human society challenges traditional views about humans and nature. Using the histories of apples, tulips, potatoes and cannabis to illustrate the complex, reciprocal relationship between humans and the natural world, he shows how these species have successfully exploited human desires to flourish. "It makes just as much sense to think of agriculture as something the grasses did to people as a way to conquer the trees," Pollan writes as he seamlessly weaves little-known facts, historical events and even a few amusing personal anecdotes to tell each species' story. Pollan's clear, elegant style enlivens even his most scientific material, and his wide-ranging references and charming manner do much to support his basic contention that man and nature are and will always be "in this boat together."

Other Books By This Author: Second Nature :A Gardener's Education; Omnivore's Dilemma : A Natural History of Four Meals (Hardcover); Omnivore's Dilemma:A Natural History of Four Meals