Download or read book The Big Bad Book of Botany written by Michael Largo and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-08-05 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Attenborough meets Lemony Snicket in The Big Bad Book of Botany, Michael Largo’s entertaining and enlightening one-of-a-kind compendium of the world’s most amazing and bizarre plants, their history, and their lore. The Big, Bad Book of Botany introduces a world of wild, wonderful, and weird plants. Some are so rare, they were once more valuable than gold. Some found in ancient mythology hold magical abilities, including the power to turn a person to stone. Others have been used by assassins to kill kings, and sorcerers to revive the dead. Here, too, is vegetation with astonishing properties to cure and heal, many of which have long since been lost with the advent of modern medicine. Organized alphabetically, The Big, Bad Book of Botany combines the latest in biological information with bizarre facts about the plant kingdom’s oddest members, including a species that is more poisonous than a cobra and a prehistoric plant that actually “walked.” Largo takes you through the history of vegetables and fruits and their astonishing agricultural evolution. Throughout, he reveals astonishing facts, from where the world’s first tree grew to whether plants are telepathic. Featuring more than 150 photographs and illustrations, The Big, Bad Book of Botany is a fascinating, fun A-to-Z encyclopedia for all ages that will transform the way we look at the natural world.
Download or read book The Plant Hunters written by Carolyn Fry and published by Andre Deutsch. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Travel across the world and through history to meet the botanical pioneers who changed our landscape. Plant Hunters tells the story of our obsession with all things that grow--both for their beauty and their economic potential--and the creation of botanical gardens to cultivate them. This sumptuous, intriguing volume moves from East to West and back again, introducing the botanists, explorers, and empire builders who gathered plants such as the coconut tree, roses, and numerous fruits and vegetables to bring back home. Showcasing hundreds of breathtaking illustrations and historical documents, it examines the species we now take for granted and the plants that have enriched and impoverished nations.
Download or read book Darwin s Most Wonderful Plants written by Ken Thompson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-10-07 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A survey of the botanical experimenting and theorizing that occupied Darwin’s golden years. . . . with expert evolutionary commentary.” —New York Review of Books For many people, Charles Darwin’s trip to Galapagos Islands on the Beagle, where he saw a biodiversity of birds, inspired him to write his theory of evolution. But this simplified narrative leaves out a major part of Darwin’s legacy. He published On the Origin of Species nearly thirty years after his voyages. And much of his life was spent experimenting with and observing plants. Darwin was a brilliant and revolutionary botanist whose observations and theories were far ahead of his time. With Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants, biologist and gardening expert Ken Thompson restores this important aspect of Darwin’s biography while also delighting in the botanical world that captivated the famous scientist. We learn from Thompson how Darwin used plants to shape his most famous theory and then later how he used that theory to further push the boundaries of botanical knowledge. Both Thompson and Darwin share a love for our most wonderful plants and the remarkable secrets they can unlock. This book will instill that same joy in casual gardeners and botany aficionados alike. “In this quietly riveting study, plant biologist Ken Thompson reveals Charles Darwin as a botanical revolutionary.” —Nature “This is a fascinating insight into the scientist’s sheer delight in observing the minutiae of living organisms.” —Gardens Illustrated “Thompson revisits Darwin’s botany, showing us how insightful he was, where (rarely) he was wrong and the marvelous discoveries that have been made since. . . . Darwin himself would have loved this book.” —Jonathan Silvertown, author of Dinner with Darwin: Food, Drink, and Evolution
Download or read book The Drunken Botanist written by Amy Stewart and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2013-03-19 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times-bestselling guide to botany and booze celebrates its 10th anniversary with an updated edition─now including a guide to planting your very own cocktail garden to go with more than fifty drink recipes. This fascinating, go-to text about the plants that make our drinks is the ideal gift book for every cocktail aficionado, the perfect drinks book for every plant-lover. Sake began with a grain of rice. Scotch emerged from barley, tequila from agave, rum from sugarcane, bourbon from corn. Thirsty yet? In The Drunken Botanist, Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries. Of all the extraordinary and obscure plants that have been fermented and distilled, a few are dangerous, some are downright bizarre, and one is as ancient as dinosaurs—but each represents a unique cultural contribution to our global drinking traditions and our history. This charming concoction of biology, chemistry, history, etymology, and mixology—with delightful drawings, tasty cocktail recipes, and fun factoids throughout—will make you the most popular guest at any cocktail party. “A book that makes familiar drinks seem new again . . . Through this horticultural lens, a mixed drink becomes a cornucopia of plants.”—NPR's Morning Edition “Amy Stewart has a way of making gardening seem exciting, even a little dangerous.” —The New York Times
Download or read book The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts written by Maja Säfström and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2016-03-29 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times bestseller • An artfully playful collection of unexpected and remarkable facts about animals, illustrated by Swedish artist Maja Säfström. Did you know that an octopus has three hearts? Or that ostriches can't walk backward? Or that a group of owls is called a parliament, or that they have three eyelids? Sea otters hold hands in their sleep, bees never sleep, and penguins laugh when they're tickled! This charming compendium contains over 100 pages of fascinating facts about the animal kingdom illustrated with whimsical detail.
Download or read book The Botany of Desire written by Michael Pollan and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2002-05-28 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Pollan shines a light on our own nature as well as on our implication in the natural world.” —The New York Times “A wry, informed pastoral.” —The New Yorker The book that helped make Michael Pollan, the New York Times bestselling author of How to Change Your Mind, Cooked and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, one of the most trusted food experts in America 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?
Download or read book The Botanical Treasury Celebrating 40 of the world s most fascinating plants through rare prints and classic texts written by Christopher Mills and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This remarkable book reveals the story of 40 of the world's most fascinating plants. The plants are explored through specially selected facsimile texts from the Archives at Kew and expert introductions, as well as exceptional and beautiful illustrations. The Botanical Treasury also includes 40 beautifully reproduced prints of the plants which can then be framed, allowing the reader to truly appreciate these magnificent plants. Written by Kew's experts and curated by Christopher Mills, previously Head of Kew's Library, Art and Archives.
Download or read book The Forgotten Botanist written by Wynne Brown and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2021-11 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WILLA Literary Award Winner in Creative Nonfiction 2022 Spur Award Winner 2022 Top Pick in Southwest Books of the Year New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards Finalist in Cover Design Honorable Mention in the At-Large NFPW Communications Contest The Forgotten Botanist is the account of an extraordinary woman who, in 1870, was driven by ill health to leave the East Coast for a new life in the West--alone. At thirty-three, Sara Plummer relocated to Santa Barbara, where she taught herself botany and established the town's first library. Ten years later she married botanist John Gill Lemmon, and together the two discovered hundreds of new plant species, many of them illustrated by Sara, an accomplished artist. Although she became an acknowledged botanical expert and lecturer, Sara's considerable contributions to scientific knowledge were credited merely as "J.G. Lemmon & wife." The Forgotten Botanist chronicles Sara's remarkable life, in which she and JG found new plant species in Arizona, California, Oregon, and Mexico and traveled throughout the Southwest with such friends as John Muir and Clara Barton. Sara also found time to work as a journalist and as an activist in women's suffrage and forest conservation. The Forgotten Botanist is a timeless tale about a woman who discovered who she was by leaving everything behind. Her inspiring story is one of resilience, determination, and courage--and is as relevant to our nation today as it was in her own time.
Download or read book The World s Greatest Literature written by and published by . This book was released on 1901 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Botanical Shakespeare written by Gerit Quealy and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-04-11 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A captivating, beautifully illustrated, one-of-a-kind color compendium of the flowers, fruits, herbs, trees, seeds, and grasses cited in the works of the world’s greatest playwright, William Shakespeare, accompanied by their companion quotes from all of his plays and poems. With a foreword by Dame Helen Mirren—the first foreword she has ever contributed. In this striking compilation, Shakespeare historian Gerit Quealy and respected Japanese artist Sumié Hasegawa combine their knowledge and skill in this first and only book that examines every plant that appears in the works of Shakespeare. Botanical Shakespeare opens with a brief look at the Bard’s relationship to the plants mentioned in his works—a diversity that illuminates his knowledge of the science of botany, as well as the colloquy, revealing his unmatched skill for creating metaphorical connections and interweaving substantive philosophy. At the heart of the book are "portraits" of the over 170 flowers, fruits, grains, grasses, trees, herbs, seeds and vegetables that Shakespeare mentions in his plays and poems. Botanical Shakespeare features a gorgeous color illustration of each, giving a "face" to the name, alongside the specific text in which it appears and the character(s) who utter the lines in which it is mentioned. This fascinating visual compendium also includes a dictionary describing each plant—such as Eglantine, a wild rose with a slight prickle, cherished for its singular scent, superior to any other rose; and the difference between apples and apple-john—along with indices listing the botanical by play/poem, by character, and genus for easy reference, ideal for gardeners and thoughtful birthday gift-giving. This breathtaking, incomparable collection of exquisite artwork and companion quotes offers unique depth and insight into Shakespeare and his timeless work through the unusual perspective of the plants themselves.
Download or read book Planting the World Joseph Banks and His Collectors an Adventurous History of Botany written by Jordan Goodman and published by William Collins. This book was released on 2021-07-07 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Based on meticulous research in original sources ... Goodman illustrates vividly how adept [Banks] was ... Shining a light on individuals whose achievements are relatively uncelebrated' Jenny Uglow, New York Review of Books A bold new history of how botany and global plant collecting - centred at Kew Gardens and driven by Joseph Banks - transformed the earth. Botany was the darling and the powerhouse of the eighteenth century. As European ships ventured across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, discovery bloomed. Bounties of new plants were brought back, and their arrival meant much more than improved flowerbeds - it offered a new scientific frontier that would transform Europe's industry, medicine, eating and drinking habits, and even fashion. Joseph Banks was the dynamo for this momentous change. As botanist for James Cook's great voyage to the South Pacific on the Endeavour, Banks collected plants on a vast scale, armed with the vision - as a child of the Enlightenment - that to travel physically was to advance intellectually. His thinking was as intrepid as Cook's seafaring: he commissioned radically influential and physically daring expeditions such as those of Francis Masson to the Cape Colony, George Staunton to China, George Caley to Australia, William Bligh to Tahiti and Jamaica, among many others. Jordan Goodman's epic history follows these high seas adventurers and their influence in Europe, as well as taking us back to the early years of Kew Gardens, which Banks developed devotedly across the course of his life, transforming it into one of the world's largest and most diverse botanical gardens. In a rip-roaring global expedition, based on original sources in many languages, Goodman gives a momentous history of how the discoveries made by Banks and his collectors advanced scientific understanding around the world.
Download or read book Flora Illustrata written by New York Botanical Garden and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the history and significance of some of the most important works held by the renowned New York City library, including handwritten manuscripts, botanical artworks, herbals, explorer's notebooks, and nineteenth-century media.
Download or read book Plant Exploring the Botanical World written by Phaidon Editors and published by Phaidon Press. This book was released on 2016-09-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate gift for gardeners and art-lovers, featuring 300 of the most beautiful and pioneering botanical images ever Following in the footsteps of the international bestseller Map: Exploring the World, this fresh and visually stunning survey celebrates the extraordinary beauty and diversity of plants. It combines photographs and cutting-edge micrograph scans with watercolours, drawings, and prints to bring this universally popular and captivating subject vividly to life. Carefully selected by an international panel of experts and arranged in a uniquely structured sequence to highlight thought-provoking contrasts and similarities, this stunning compilation of botanically themed images includes iconic work by celebrated artists, photographers, scientists, and botanical illustrators, as well as rare and previously unpublished images.
Download or read book Plants That Kill written by Elizabeth A. Dauncey and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-06 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This richly illustrated book provides an in-depth natural history of the most poisonous plants on earth, covering everything from the lethal effects of hemlock and deadly nightshade to the uses of such plants in medicine, ritual, and chemical warfare"--Dust jacket.
Download or read book The Plant Messiah written by Carlos Magdalena and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2017-06-01 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Passionate, forthright and enthusiastic, Carlos Magdalena is a world-renowned horticulturist - known both for his charisma and his conservation work. The Plant Messiah follows Carlos' dreams and disappointments; from his days as a school boy in the death throes of General Franco's Fascist dictatorship, to his advent as The Plant Messiah at the forefront of conservation, backed by the reputation and resources of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and enthused by the potential that lies beyond. The book discloses for the first time the details behind his 'codebreaking' exploits and the secret stories behind his work; his genius, lateral thinking and steadfast belief that everything is possible.
Download or read book The Gardener s Botanical written by Ross Bayton and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 1113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive guide to botanical Latin Unlock the secrets of botanical Latin with this beautifully illustrated encyclopedia. The Gardener's Botanical contains definitions of more than 5,000 plant names—from abbreviatus ("shortened") to zonatus ("with bands")—along with more than 350 color illustrations. Scientific plant names are an invaluable tool for those who understand them. Formed from Greek and, more commonly, from Latin root words, not only do they make it possible for gardeners and botanists to communicate, they also contain a wealth of hidden information. The Gardener's Botanical is the key to unlocking these secrets. This guide contains a breathtaking array of botanical names in alphabetical order. Each word is listed with a pronunciation guide, definition, example plant, and, where appropriate, etymology. Also included in this illuminating guide are special features on important plant genera, fact boxes, essays focusing on the history and importance of Latin names and botanical illustrations, and an index of common names with more than 2,000 popular plants, cross-referenced with their binomial name in Latin.
Download or read book A Botanist s Guide to Parties and Poisons written by Kate Khavari and published by Crooked Lane Books. This book was released on 2022-06-07 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Lost Apothecary meets Dead Dead Girls in this fast-paced, STEMinist adventure. Debut author Kate Khavari deftly entwines a pulse-pounding mystery with the struggles of a woman in a male-dominated field in 1923 London. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to blaze a new trail at the University College London, but with her colleagues’ beliefs about women’s academic inabilities and not so subtle hints that her deceased father’s reputation paved her way into the botany department, she feels stymied at every turn. When she attends a dinner party for the school, she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon. What she doesn’t expect is for Mrs. Henry, one of the professors’ wives, to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin. Dr. Maxwell, Saffron’s mentor, is the main suspect and evidence quickly mounts. Joined by fellow researcher--and potential romantic interest--Alexander Ashton, Saffron uses her knowledge of botany as she explores steamy greenhouses, dark gardens, and deadly poisons to clear Maxwell's name. Will she be able to uncover the truth or will her investigation land her on the murderer’s list, in this entertaining examination of society’s expectations.
