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Biological
Sciences - Biology
Zoology
The
Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
by Michael Pollan
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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
- Amazon.com
Paperback: 304 pages
Random House (Paper); ISBN: 0375760393; 1st Trade edition
(May 28, 2002)
Ecological
Versatility and Community Ecology (Cambridge Studies in Ecology)
by Ralph C. MacNally
(Hardcover - August 1995)
Molecular
Biology Techniques: An Intensive Laboratory Course
by Walt Ream (Editor), et al
Book Description: This manual is designed as an intensive introduction
to the various tools of molecular biology. It introduces all the basic
methods of molecular biology including cloning, PCR, Southern (DNA) blotting,
Northern (RNA) blotting, Western blotting, DNA sequencing, oligo-directed
mutagenesis, and protein expression.
(Spiral-bound)
Making
Sense of Life : Explaining Biological Development With Models, Metaphors,
and Machines
by Evelyn Fox Keller
(Hardcover - April 2002)
The
Emperor's New Clothes : Biological Theories of Race at the Millennium
by Joseph L., Jr Graves
(Hardcover - February 2001)
Biometry
: The Principles and Practice of Statistics in Biological Research
by Robert R. Sokal, F. James Rohlf (Contributor)
(Hardcover - September 1994)
Biohazard:
The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program
in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It
by Ken Alibek, Stephen Handelman (Contributor)
(Paperback)
Biological
Warfare Against Crops (Global Issues)
by Simon M. Whitby
(Hardcover - February 2002)
Germs:
Biological Weapons and America's Secret War
by Judith Miller, et al
(Hardcover - September 2001)
Self-Organized
Criticality : Emergent Complex Behavior in Physical and Biological Systems
(Cambridge Lecture Notes in Physics, 10)
by Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen
(Paperback - October 2000)
Micromanipulation
by Light in Biology and Medicine: the Laser Microbeam and Optical Tweezers
by Karl O. Greulich, D. L. Farkas (Editor)
(Hardcover - December 1998)
Quantitative Fish Dynamics (Biological Resource Management Series
by Terrance J. Quinn, Richard B. Deriso
Listed under Fish & Sharks
Self-Organization
in Biological Systems
by Scott Camazine (Editor), et al
(Hardcover)
Thermodynamics
and Kinetics for the Biological Sciences
by Gordon G. Hammes
(Paperback)
The
Tree of Knowledge : The Biological Roots of Human Understanding
by Humberto R. Maturana, et al
(Paperback - March 1998)
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