The botany of desire : a plant's eye view of the world / Michael Pollan.

By:

Pollan, Michael

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: New York : Random House, c2001.Edition: 1st editionDescription: xxv, 271 pages ; 25 cmISBN:

0375501290
0375760393

Subject(s):

Human-plant relationships

DDC classification:

306.45 21

LOC classification:

QK46.5.H85 P66 2001

Contents:

Introduction: The Human Bumblebee -- Ch. 1. Desire: Sweetness/Plant: The Apple -- Ch. 2. Desire: Beauty/Plant: The Tulip -- Ch. 3. Desire: Intoxication/Plant: Marijuana -- Ch. 4. Desire: Control/Plant: The Potato.

Review: "An Idaho farmer cultivates Russet Burbank potatoes so that a customer at a McDonald's half a world away can enjoy a long, golden french fry. A gardener plants tulip bulbs in the fall and, come spring, has a riotous patch of color to admire. Two straightforward examples of how humans act on nature to get what we want. Or are they? What if those potatoes and tulips have evolved to gratify certain human desires so that humans will help them multiply? What if, in other words, these plants are using us just as we use them?".Summary: "In this narrative that blends history, memoir, and the best science writing, Pollan tells the story of four domesticated species - the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato - from the point of view of the plants. All four species are deeply woven into the fabric of our everyday lives, and Pollan illustrates how each has evolved a survival strategy based on satisfying one of humankind's most basic desires. The apple gratifies our taste for sweetness; the tulip attracts us with its beauty; marijuana offers intoxication; and the genetically modified potato gives us a sense of control over nature. And just as we've benefited from these plants, the plants, in the grand co-evolutionary scheme that Pollan evokes, have done remarkably well by us."--BOOK JACKET.

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Home library	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Book	School of Architecture & Design (SoAD) General Stacks	School of Architecture & Design (SoAD) General Stacks	306.45 POL (Browse shelf(Opens below))	1	Lost		3010033251

Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (pages [247]-256) and index.

"An Idaho farmer cultivates Russet Burbank potatoes so that a customer at a McDonald's half a world away can enjoy a long, golden french fry. A gardener plants tulip bulbs in the fall and, come spring, has a riotous patch of color to admire. Two straightforward examples of how humans act on nature to get what we want. Or are they? What if those potatoes and tulips have evolved to gratify certain human desires so that humans will help them multiply? What if, in other words, these plants are using us just as we use them?".

"In this narrative that blends history, memoir, and the best science writing, Pollan tells the story of four domesticated species - the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato - from the point of view of the plants. All four species are deeply woven into the fabric of our everyday lives, and Pollan illustrates how each has evolved a survival strategy based on satisfying one of humankind's most basic desires. The apple gratifies our taste for sweetness; the tulip attracts us with its beauty; marijuana offers intoxication; and the genetically modified potato gives us a sense of control over nature. And just as we've benefited from these plants, the plants, in the grand co-evolutionary scheme that Pollan evokes, have done remarkably well by us."--BOOK JACKET.

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