The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
by Michael Pollan
List Price:
Our Price: $8.96
You Save: $7.04 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.25 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Michael PollanBrand: PBS
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-05-28
ISBN: 0375760393
Number of pages: 271
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Book Reviews of The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
Book Review: Fascinating read
Summary: 5 Stars
Botany of Desire was recommended to me last summer. It covers the stories of four plants: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. Interestingly, it reads similarly to The Beak of the Finch in that it discusses the nature of evolution. However, unlike the finches, the focus of this book is on how communion with humans, rather than isolation, has driven the evolution of these plants. While there are many items of interest in this book, I will primarily focus on what I did not know prior to reading it.
Apples
The story of the apple starts with John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed. What I didn't know here was that the apple was spread throughout the new world as a source of alcohol rather than food. It makes perfect historical sense, but I had never given it much thought. The "apple cider" and "applejack" about which I had previously read without consideration was a form of moonshine that was extremely potent and must have gone a long way towards making frontier life more bearable. The fact that apples spread the taste of "sweetness" was also something that I had not previously appreciated. Before the European honey bees swarmed the US, and before cane and beet sugar were available, most people would seldom get to taste that flavor, so it was to be savored.
Another thing that I didn't know about apples was that they don't breed true. Like most kids, I tried planting apple trees from seed, but I never stayed interested in the project for the 4-6 years it would take to actually get apples from the resulting progeny. If I had, I would have found out that each seed has randomized genetics, and therefore makes entirely different types of apples. (I now imagine each apple to be like Doctor Who, playing genetic Russian roulette with each seed.) So, all the apples we eat are cloned.
Tulips
The tulip story wasn't quite so interesting, because I was already aware of the tulip boom and associated economic disaster. What was interesting was the "college" system of bidding on tulips. Apparently, if you wanted to "invest" in tulip futures, you first went to the bar. (That would have been a huge warning for me but hey, I'm not Dutch, what do I know?) Once there, the seller and bidder would each write down a price, and hand the slates to a pair of trusted proxies. The proxies would then dicker over the price and return something that they thought was fair. If they both agreed, the deal went through and both parties paid a fee for doing business. If they both disagreed, the deal was canceled. If only one disagreed, he had to pay a fine. . . The fees and fines then went to buying drinks for everyone at the bar.
Yeah. Day trading looks like a reputable career in comparison.
Marijuana
The marijuana story was fascinating for someone who only ever thought of the plant as "ditch weed". Apparently, since it was criminalized, the "gardeners" have been tinkering with the genetics trying to balance the best of the different plants, maximizing the THC and minimizing the other toxic chemicals. The descriptions of modern grow rooms were astonishing, describing the millions of dollars in technology needed to grow these hybrids, the billions that they're worth and frighteningly, how growers get just as habituated to the cash flow and genetic improvement process as the buyers do to the product.
Another interesting side observation that Michael Pollan made was that the incidents of shamans/visionaries have gone down as global nutrition levels have gone up. Not sure if I buy the link, but it was interesting to consider.
Potato(e)s
The potato section was mostly about direct genetic manipulation by the Monsanto corporation. It's supposed to be a story about control, but actually reads like a story about blind hope and arrogance. It gets into a natural insecticide known as Bt that Monsanto merged into potato(e)s. While this has been around for millennia, it has never existed in sufficient concentration to promote evolutionary resistance until now. The nightmare scenario is that of breeding super-insects that are not only immune to our existing insecticides, but also immune to the natural ones -- resulting in a population explosion of pest-insects that utterly destroys the global food supply. Monsanto's answer is basically "we'll deal with that when it happens".
I can follow the logic, but have my doubts that it would get quite so bad. Again though, it's interesting to think about.
The other item of interest from this section was about "net necrosis" in Russet Burbanks. When I was young, I remember getting the occasional french fry that had a dark spot. This was caused by net necrosis -- a harmless spotting of the potato. The large fast food companies believe (probably correctly) that their customers do not like spotty fries, so they will refuse an entire batch if one potato shows this condition. So, to prevent this from happening, the commercial potato producers spray the entire field with nerve toxin, and keep all of their people out of the fields for up to five days to keep them from being killed.
Then they sell the potato(e)s to us to eat.
I already had potato(e)s on my "organic-only" list for pesticide reasons. After reading this book, they're going to stay there.
Generally
Really, most of the book was a fascinating read, but the only bit that probably changed my life is the net necrosis stuff. That said, it's a well written book and the author's voice rings through so it's more than a selection of facts. If you like plants, it's worth reading. If you don't like plants, but enjoy thinking, read it... you might start liking plants.
Of course, if you are botanophobic, you should avoid it (and I commend you for reading this far without fleeing in terror).
Summary of The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
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?Working in his garden one day, Michael Pollan hit pay dirt in the form of an idea: do plants, he wondered, use humans as much as we use them? While the question is not entirely original, the way Pollan examines this complex coevolution by looking at the natural world from the perspective of plants is unique. The result is a fascinating and engaging look at the true nature of domestication.
In making his point, Pollan focuses on the relationship between humans and four specific plants: apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes. He uses the history of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) to illustrate how both the apple's sweetness and its role in the production of alcoholic cider made it appealing to settlers moving west, thus greatly expanding the plant's range. He also explains how human manipulation of the plant has weakened it, so that "modern apples require more pesticide than any other food crop." The tulipomania of 17th-century Holland is a backdrop for his examination of the role the tulip's beauty played in wildly influencing human behavior to both the benefit and detriment of the plant (the markings that made the tulip so attractive to the Dutch were actually caused by a virus). His excellent discussion of the potato combines a history of the plant with a prime example of how biotechnology is changing our relationship to nature. As part of his research, Pollan visited the Monsanto company headquarters and planted some of their NewLeaf brand potatoes in his garden--seeds that had been genetically engineered to produce their own insecticide. Though they worked as advertised, he made some startling discoveries, primarily that the NewLeaf plants themselves are registered as a pesticide by the EPA and that federal law prohibits anyone from reaping more than one crop per seed packet. And in a interesting aside, he explains how a global desire for consistently perfect French fries contributes to both damaging monoculture and the genetic engineering necessary to support it.
Pollan has read widely on the subject and elegantly combines literary, historical, philosophical, and scientific references with engaging anecdotes, giving readers much to ponder while weeding their gardens. --Shawn Carkonen
Gardening & Horticulture Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Gardening & Horticulture Books
The City Gardenerby Matt James
Harper UK; Published: 2003-10; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Pocket Gardening: A Guide to Gardening in Impossible Placesby Marjorie Harris
Harpercollins Canada; Published: 1998-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $42.71
Cactus: A Prickly Portrait of a Desert Eccentricby Linda Hinrichs, Nikolay Zurek, Marjorie Leet Ford
Collins Pub San Francisco; Published: 1995-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.69
Price in other shops:
Beth Chatto's Green Tapestry: Perennial Plants for Your Gardenby Beth Chatto
HarperCollins UK; Published: 1999-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $65.00
Ornamental Grasses (Collins Aura Garden Handbooks)by Alan Toogood
HarperCollins Publishers; Published: 1991-04-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.54
Bonsai (Collins Garden Guides)by Anne Swinton
Collins; Published: 1993-03-29; Paperback; Book
Medieval English Gardensby Teresa McLean
The Harvill Press; Paperback; Book
Vegetables (Cultivated Gardener)Collins Pub San Francisco; Published: 1997-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
Cabbages & Kings: the Origins of Fruit & Vegetablesby Jonathan Roberts
HarperCollins; Published: 2001; Hardcover; Book
The Book of Magnoliasby Neil G. Treseder, Marjorie Blamey
HarperCollins Publishers; Published: 1981-10-29; Hardcover; Book
Similar Books and other products
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.)by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.14
Price in other shops:
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)by Annie Dillard
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2007-06-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.46
Price in other shops:
Flight Maps: Adventures With Nature In Modern Americaby Jennifer Price
Basic Books; Published: 2000-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.01
Price in other shops:
The Botany Coloring Bookby Paul Young
Harper Perennial; Published: 1982-04-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.27
Price in other shops:
Iliadby Homer, Stanley Lombardo
Hackett Pub Co; Published: 1997-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
The Death and Life of Great American Citiesby Jane Jacobs
Vintage; Published: 1992-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops:
Vaccination Against Smallpox (Great Minds Series)by Edward Jenner
Prometheus Books; Published: 1996-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
Utopia: Thomas Moreby Thomas More
Yale University Press; Published: 2001-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Second Nature: A Gardener's Educationby Michael Pollan
Grove Press; Published: 2003-08-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.10
Price in other shops:
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Mealsby Michael Pollan
Penguin; Published: 2007-08-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops: