Focusing on the human relationship with plants, the author uses botany to explore four basic human desires--sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control--through portraits of four plants that embody them: the apple, tulip, marijuana, and potato.
Linking four fundamental human desires?—?sweetness, beauty, energy and control?—?with the plants that satisfy them, this fascinating book demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a reciprocal relationship that satisfies humankind’s most basic yearnings. Simultaneous and eBook.
By the bestselling author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, this is Michael Pollan's ingenious companion book about the surprising and close relationship between people and plants.In this entertaining young readers edition of the environmental studies classic, Michael Pollan demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a reciprocal relationship. He links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, energy, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, coffee, 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 helped
them to thrive.
The Botany of Desire is perfect for STEM-focused young readers who want to learn more about:
- human history, biology, and environmentalism
- climate change and its impact on our relationship with plants
- gardening and the human-plant relationship
