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Remarkable Plants That Shape Our World de Helen Bynum

Remarkable Plants That Shape Our World

Autor Helen Bynum, William Bynum
en Limba Engleză Hardback – 5 oct 2014

Considerăm că Remarkable Plants That Shape Our World vine să completeze o lacună importantă în literatura academică și de popularizare a științei, oferind o sinteză rară între rigoarea botanică și istoria culturală. Deși există numeroase enciclopedii tehnice, volumul de față reușește să ancoreze biologia plantelor în experiența cotidiană, de la cerealele de la micul dejun până la fibrele textile. Structura cărții este organizată riguros în opt secțiuni tematice, începând cu „Transformers”, unde sunt analizate plantele fundamentale pentru sedentarizarea umană (grâul, orezul, porumbul), și continuând cu secțiuni precum „Heal and Harm” sau „Revered and Adored”. Această progresie permite cititorului să înțeleagă nu doar utilitatea speciilor, ci și încărcătura lor simbolică.

Textul completează perspectiva oferită de 50 Plants that Changed the World de Stephen A. Harris, adăugând o dimensiune vizuală superioară prin utilizarea celor 160 de planșe color din colecțiile Kew Gardens și o analiză mai detaliată a 80 de specii, față de cele 50 ale lucrării menționate. În contextul operei autorului, observăm o continuitate a interesului pentru intersecția dintre știință și societate; dacă în Great Discoveries in Medicine, Helen Bynum explora evoluția cunoașterii medicale, aici extinde cadrul către resursele naturale care au făcut posibile aceste descoperiri. Stilul este precis, academic dar accesibil, evitând jargonul excesiv în favoarea unei narațiuni istorice documentate, susținută de ilustrații botanice de o acuratețe remarcabilă.

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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9780226204741
ISBN-10: 022620474X
Pagini: 240
Ilustrații: 160 color plates, 15 halftones
Dimensiuni: 197 x 248 x 28 mm
Greutate: 0.97 kg
Editura: University of Chicago Press
Colecția University of Chicago Press

De ce să citești această carte

Recomandăm această carte oricărui pasionat de botanică sau istorie care dorește să înțeleagă dependența profundă a civilizației umane de regnul vegetal. Cititorul câștigă o perspectivă interdisciplinară asupra a 80 de plante esențiale, beneficiind de o arhivă vizuală de excepție de la Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Este un instrument util pentru a înțelege cum resurse aparent banale, precum bumbacul sau cafeaua, au dictat rute comerciale și schimbări sociale majore.

Despre autor

Helen Bynum este un istoric recunoscut al științei și medicinei, specializată în impactul social al descoperirilor biologice. A editat lucrări de referință precum Great Discoveries in Medicine și Dictionary of Medical Biography, și este autoarea volumului Spitting Blood, o istorie culturală a tuberculozei. Experiența sa în cercetarea arhivelor medicale și științifice se reflectă în Remarkable Plants That Shape Our World prin acuratețea datelor istorice și capacitatea de a sintetiza informații complexe într-o formă narativă coerentă. Alături de William Bynum, ea transformă botanica într-o fereastră către înțelegerea evoluției umane.

Descriere scurtă

Imagine a typical morning--munching on a bowl of cereal, sipping coffee, dressing for the day, riding to work. Every moment of this common routine draws on the power of plants, and the centuries of development that brought wheat, coffee beans, cotton, and rubber--among many others--into our daily lives.

Remarkable Plants celebrates the wonder and utility of the green kingdom, taking a detailed look at how plants have shaped our world. It focuses on eighty key species and richly explores their history, highlighting their importance and bringing to light surprising stories. Organized thematically into eight sections, the book starts with “Transformers” (including rice, beans, olives) and moves through sections such as “Heal and Harm” (poppy, aloe, strychnos) and “Revered and Adored” (lotus, frankincense, rose). Each species is introduced with its common and scientific names and followed by an exploration of its cultural, historical, botanical, and symbolic associations. Hundreds of botanical illustrations show full plants as well as highlight distinctive leaves, blooms, and fruits.

Rooted in one of the world’s most important and renowned temples of greenery, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Remarkable Plants is a symbiotic balance of science and art that will open readers’ eyes to the deep influence of the natural world on our modern one.

Notă biografică

William F. Bynum is professor emeritus of the UCL Centre for the History of Medicine in London. Helen Bynum is a historian of science and medicine. Together they have edited Great Discoveries in Medicine and Dictionary of Medical Biography.

Cuprins

Introduction: Utility and Beauty
Transformers: Settling Down, Tending the Fields
                Wheat, Barley, Lentil, Pea: Founder Foods of the Fertile Crescent
                Rice, Millets, Soybean, Grams: Asian Assets
                Maize, Beans, Squash: The "Three Sisters" of the Americas
                Potato, Sweet Potato, Groundnut, Quinoa: South American Heirlooms
                Sorghum, Yams, Cowpea: Staples South of the Sahara
                Taro, Breadfruit: Fuelling Oceania
                Alfalfa, Oat: Speed the Chariot and the Plough
                Olive: The Quintessential Oil
                Grape: In Vino Veritas
Taste: Beyond the Bare Necessities
                Saffron: The Spice of Conspicuous Consumption
                Nutmeg, Cloves, Pepper: Riches of the Indies
                Chilli Peppers: Some Like It Hot
                Garlic, Onion, Shallots, Leek: Hellfire and Brimstone?
                Brassicas: Eat Your Greens
                Asparagus: A Delicacy Ancient and Modern
                Hop: The Bitter in Beer
                Tomato: The Love Apple
Heal and Harm: Getting the Balance Right
                Poppy: Pleasure, Pain, and Addiction
                Cinchona, Artemisia: Fighting Malaria
                Rauvolfia: Ancient Ayurvedic Drug
                Coca: Stimulant and Nerve Blocker
                Strychnos: Medicine as Poison
                Rhubarb: Potent Purge to "Superfood"
                Willow: Tree of Sorrow and Pain Reliever
                Citrus: Vitamins and Zest
                Aloe: The Succulent and Its Healing Gel
                Mexican Yam: Making “the Pill”
                Madagascar Periwinkle: Delicate Flower, Powerful Treatment
Technology and Power: The Material World
                Cedar of Lebanon: Foundation of the Phoenician Empire
                Oak: Might and Majesty
                Yew: Medieval Longbows, Modern Medicine
                Flax: Linen and Lino
                Hemp: Textiles and Old Rope
                Cotton: Clothing the World
                Bamboo: Versatility and Strength in a Stem
                Mahogany: Furniture Timber of Choice
Cash Crops: Making It Pay
                Tea: Tips of a Global Trade
                Coffee: Waking Up the World
                Sugar Cane: The Slave Trade’s Sweetener
                Chocolate: Food of the Gods
                Tobacco: The Sot Weed Factor
                Indigo, Woad: Searching for True Blue
                Rubber: Amazonia’s Precious Latex
                Banana: The World’s Favorite Fruit
                Oil Palm: Economics Versus the Environment
Landscape: Plant Aesthetics on the Grand Scale
                Larch: Stately Conifers of the Northern Forests
                Redwoods: Titans of the Tree World
                Saguaro Cactus: Icon of the Wild West
                Silver Tree Fern: Shining Māori Symbol
                Eucalyptus: Australia’s Signature Tree
                Rhododendron: Flowering Mountains
                Mangroves: Between Land and Sea
Revered and Adored: From the Sacred to the Exquisite
                Lotus: Sacred Flower of Purity and Rebirth
                Date Palm: Bread of the Desert
                Frankincense: The Odor of Sanctity
                Pomegranate: Fertility, Abundance, Renewal
                Apple: Fruit of Temptation and Eternal Life
                Chinese Plum or Japanese Apricot: Herald of Spring
                Rose: Flower of Love
                Tulip: A Mania for a Bulb
                Orchids: Strange and Beautiful Blooms
                Peony: Flower of Riches and Honor
Wonders of Nature: The Extraordinary Plant World
                Baobab: The Upside-Down Tree
                Welwitschia: Strange Desert Phenomenon
                Giant Waterlily: ‘A Vegetable Wonder’
                Pitcher Plant: Caught in a Trap
                Rafflesia: The Biggest Bloom
                Sunflower: Nature’s Inspiration
                Gingko: The Great Survivor
Further Reading
Sources of Quotations
Sources of Illustrations
Index

Recenzii

“Remarkable Plants is readable and engaging. There is much discussion of species beyond 'the usual suspects' which appear in books on plants aimed at the general reader. A fantastic range of visual material.”

“Remarkable Plants That Shape Our World is a quietly lavish book that gathers together the history of human use of a wide array of plants world-wide. The book is divided into sections, treating plants used as major food crops, spices, drugs, building materials, cash crops, ornamentals, sacred plants and, in a fun final flourish, curiosities. . . . A candy box for the curious."

"A gloriously illustrated celebration of the history, utility, diversity, and sheer wonder of the botanical world that powers our planet."

This overview of the botanical world takes the usefulness of plants to humans as its starting point. Key plants—10 or so in each category—are divided into medicines, materials, foods and flavours, with brief and elegant essays devoted to topics such as olives, asparagus, hops, aloe, flax, bamboo and wheat.

"This very handsome book provides interesting, particularly historical, information about plants of use and interest to a wide readership.

"It’s readable, interestingand full of colorful facts—botanical, medical, historical, culinary—that keep the reader turning the pages. The writing is in a loose, scholarly style that feels open and accessible to a general readership. This is the kind of book you want to read and then give to your friends and family to read."

"This beautifully produced volume reminds me of a Ken Burns video production. . . . Most of the images in this book are black and white or sepia and accompanied by engaging, authoritative yet accessible knowledge. The images are a gallery of exquisite botanical illustrations."