Mida taim teab: Teejuht meelte maailma

by Daniel Chamovitz, Kadri Koik (Translator), Kati Metsaots (Translator)

«Kui te järgmine kord läbi pargi jalutate, leidke aega ja küsige, mida võilill murul näeb. Millist lõhna tunneb rohi? Katsuge tammepuu lehti teadmisega, et puu jätab puudutuse meelde. Puu ei jäta aga meelde teid ennast. Teie seevastu võite meelde jätta selle kindla puu ja kanda mälestust temast endas terve elu.»

Tel Avivi ülikooli teadlane Daniel Chamovitz kirjeldab oma värskes raamatus, mida ja kuidas tajuvad ja kogevad taimed. Kõige värskemate teadustööde kaudu tutvustab autor taimede «tundeelu«, tõmmates paralleele inimmeeltega: tuleb välja, et inimestel on päevalillede ja tammepuudega päris palju ühist. Ta demonstreerib, kuidas taimed tunnevad ära, mis on ülal ja mis all; kuidas nad teavad, et naabrit ründab näljaste putukate parv, ja kas nad oskavad vääriliselt hinnata Led Zeppelini muusikat. Puudutuste, heli, lõhna, nägemise ja isegi mälu ilmingud panevad Chamovitzi arutlema, kas taimed võiksid olla koguni teadlikud oma ümbruskonnast. Raamat annab lugejale haruldase võimaluse kiigata, milline paistab maailm murule meie jalge all, lillele meie nina ees ja puudele, mille otsa me ronime.

«Mida taim teab» pääses nii Amazoni kui Audubon Magazine'i 2012. aasta kümne parima populaarteadusliku raamatu hulka, samuti valis Chicago Tribune'i toimetus selle üheks mulluseks lemmikraamatuks.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Plants, Biology, Gardening, Ecology

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Daniel Chamovitz is Director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University in Israel. His career has been marked by groundbreaking discoveries in the biology of plants, with his research published in the leading journals. This is his first book.

Reviews

[Jim Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you read this book, even the first few chapters, you will never look at any plant the same again. Before you get too far into the book, you may wonder if the author is not setting you up to join him in a plants' rights campaign. But if you read to the end you will be disabused of such a conclusion. In fact, you will find that such anthropomorphizing is not the purpose of the book. It is simply a book to increase the awareness (a word chosen in harmony with the content of the book) of what plants "see." "smell," "feel," "hear," "taste," "known," and "remember," but do not think or reason about--just sense and remember for the survival value involved. I'm always put off by the use of "very" as a modifier for "unique," which the author chose to do at one point, so the book could use some critical editing, but it is a totally fascinating book.

[Melindrift · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silly rabbit. Plants don’t have a brain or central nervous system – how can they “know” anything? Turns out though, that their cells communicate with electrical currents and contain some of the same neuroreceptors as human cells. Huh? Also, they see. They have photoreceptors on the tips of their shoots that cause the stalks to bend toward light (if you cut off the tip, the rest of the stalk doesn’t bend). And, they smell. Infested trees let off a chemical that bugs don’t like, and trees nearby pick up that scent and release the same chemical to ward off attacks. People, they remember. A fly has to be big enough to trigger at least two little hairs on the Venus Flytrap within a certain period of time for the trap to snap shut.

The author Daniel Chamovitz is Tel Aviv University’s director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences, a field that has apparently blossomed (pardon the pun) over the past decade. Chamovitz makes the topic very accessible by using the science behind our human senses as a jumping off point for exploring the similarities and differences between us and plants. The result is an extremely clear and utterly fascinating overview of what plants know. I loved this book. Ate it up. Thanks again to Brain Pickings for another cool recommendation.

[Karen P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I alotted time before spring for this piquing book about how plants, lacking a brain/central nervous system, can sense and process information. My reading just happened to coincide with the special arrival of my niece's baby girl. Maleigha, now 16 days old, was born without a brain (anencephaly), but has a portion of brain stem, which allows her to breathe and have a heartbeat. She is blind and deaf, and will never be able to walk or talk. (Actually I know very little about the condition of anencephaly, and was surprised to learn that Maleigha can flail her arms.) In describing both her function and her care, I compared Maleigha to a plant: She is sessile, can't communicate, needs 'watering', and protection. As I began the reading of this book, I was continuously drawing parallels between the limitations plants have, and the circumstances of Maleigha. More intriguing to me was the wonders of what plants CAN do, and the question in my mind of whether an anencephalic human could have the same potential. Chamovitz explains to readers that plants may not see, but they are aware of their visual environment. They know when you are near. They know if you are wearing a blue or a red shirt. They know if you have painted your house. Could Maleigha know these things? Maleigha has a nose, but no brain to receive olfactory sensory input. Well, plants can detect aromas and pheromones, and respond to these particles without a brain to process that input. Plants know when they are being touched, and can distinguish between different touches. Plants have proprioceptive awareness; that is to say they know where they are in space, which way is up or down, and where their appendages are. Plants have no 'memory' yet they can remember past infections, or pests, or environments, and respond based on their 'memories'. Plants may not be defined as intelligent, but they are "acutely aware of the world around them." These ponderings have been intriguing for me. Babies born with anencephaly have short life spans; 55% are still-born. Most die within a few hours or days. In the longest living case of anencephaly, the child survived for three years. Maleigha may not have a long time here with us, but because of this book I am hopeful that she may be aware she is here, and aware that her family is caring for her.

[Stian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what plants 'see'? What they 'smell'? What they feel? How come a plant 'knows' when and how to bend towards the light? Does the colour of the light play a role in all this? What about the day and night cycle, do plants have some sort of circadian rhythm? Do plants experience jet lag? How does the plant distinguish between colours? How come a plant can tell that there's a bug on its leaves? If the bug is a dangerous one, how come it 'knows' that and will release chemicals to defend itself?

If any of this is interesting you, and you want to find out about these things, you should read this book. It's short, sweet, and very fascinating. Chamovitz shows you not only what we know about plants today, but also how we came to know those things -- through ingenious and oftentimes laborious experiments. Books like this remind me how much we humans have learnt about the world we live in, and how smart we can be as a species, and it's really mindblowing. Even though it dwarfs in comparison with what we don't yet know and what we are yet to find out, it's still amazing what we humans have been able to figure out about the world around us.

'So the next time you find yourself on a stroll through a park, take a second to ask yourself: What does the dandelion on the lawn see? What does the grass smell? Touch the leaves of an oak, knowing that the tree will remember it was touched. '

[alper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bitkiler zeki sayılabilir mi sorusuyla bitiyor kitabımız.

Eldeki imkanlara bakınca dahiler bence. Benim imkanlarım bu kadar sınırlı olsa -takriben T0, toprağın altında bir yerlerdeyiz yeni yeni çimleneceğiz- daha kafamı dışarı çıkaramaz ölür kalırdım. Ne yöne gideceğim o bile belli değil? Diyelim atlattık bir şekilde bulduk yönümüzü, yerimize sabitlenmişimiz iyi mi? Börtü böceği ayrı dert, komşular ayrı dert! Çekilsene birader bak yine güneşi kapatıyor! Şu küsküte de kaç kez dedim buralarda dolanma, bak hiç dinliyor mu? (Benim bitki halim de hiç çekilmezmiş. İşin kötüsü kaçamıyorsun da.)

:))

Bu zat-ı şahaneler kendine gelen güneş ışığından (uzunu ayrı, kısası ayrı) kırmızıyı, maviyi seçip hepsini ayrı ayrı değerlendirip çıkarım yapabiliyorlar. Güneşin zerresi boşa gitmiyor. Ama diyelim beceremedi bahtı karam, fotosentez de yapamıyor; domatesle buğdaydan hangisine çöreklenmesi gerektiğini biliyor. Diyelim ki toprakta da iş yok. Kapan kurduğunda karıncanın dişinin kovuğuna gitmeyeceğini bilip daha etli butlu böcükleri bekliyor. Tutuyor ağzının suyunu. Ağzının suyunu akıtmak da maliyetli aman! Kapanı kapama da!! Diyelim ki kapan mapan yok -istisna bir durum zaten-, böcek dadandı hem kendini, hem de yanındaki diğer bitkileri teyakkuza geçirebiliyor. Hani zar zor tesadüfen çıktıydım ya topraktan, hah!! Zerre tereddüt etmiyor o konuda. Yer çekimini de biliyor, yer çekimine doğru yayıyor kökünü. Ooh mis! Sürgünlerini de ona karşı yükseltiyor göğe doğru. Ama bunu yaparken dengesini de dağıtmıyor kendini kaptırıp iki büklüm de kalmıyor asilce yapıyor bunu. Dokunma konusunda da çok hassas! Çok sıkı fıkı olmaya gelmiyor kimisiyle, ne bilsin rüzgar mı zelzele mi yine ona göre tedbirini alıyor kendince. 0,25 gram ağırlığındaki bir sicimi hissedebilenleri var. Kışın yediği soğuğu da unutmuyor. Yemeden de açmıyor çiçeklerini. İkiye kadar sayanları da mevcut. :)

O halde, Venüs sinek kapanının kısa süreli belleğinin muhtemel mekanizması şöyledir: Bir tüye ilk dokunuş bir elektrik potansiyeli yaratır ve bu potansiyel hücre hücre aktarılır. Bu elektrik yükü kısa süreliğine, yirmi saniye içinde yok olana kadar, iyon konsantrasyonunda bir artış olarak depolanır. Bu süre içinde ikinci bir aksiyon potansiyeli kapanın orta bölümüne ulaşırsa, biriken yük ve iyon konsantrasyonu eşiği geçer ve kapan kapanır. Aksiyon potansiyelleri arasında çok fazla zaman geçerse, bitki ilk aksiyon potansiyelini unutur ve kapan açık kalır.
Venüs sinek kapanındaki bu elektrik sinyali (ve bu anlamda diğer bitkilerdeki elektrik sinyalleri) insanların ve diğer bütün hayvanların nöronlarındaki elektrik sinyallerine benzer. Sinek kapanı bitkisinin nöronlarındaki ve yapraklarındaki sinyalleri, hücreden elektrik sinyali geçerken hücre zan içinde açılan iyon kanallarını ketleyen ilaçlarla engellemek mümkündür. Volkov deneyden önce bitkilerini insan nöronlarında potasyum kanallarını ketleyen bir kimyasala maruz bırakınca, dokunulduğunda veya gerekli elektrik yükü alındığında kapanın kapanmadığını gördü. (115)

Bitkilerin davranışlarının "insanbiçimci" tanımlarla bilimin ışığında ele alıyor “Bitkilerin Bildikleri”. Son derece sınırlı oyun alanlarında hayatta kalmak adına buldukları müthiş çözümleri bu yöntemle, empati kurmamızı sağlayarak, tane tane anlatıyor. Görmeleri, koklamaları, duymaları, hissettikleri, hatırladıkları, içalgıları. Bölümlerde öncelikle insan benzer duyuları nasıl yaşıyor, o ele alınıyor. Sonra bitkiler üzerinden tariflenip deneyler ve yürütülen çalışmalarla ispatlanıyor. Columbia uzay mekiğine bile gidiyoruz. Hiçbir masraftan kaçınmadık! Ve katiyetle hurafeye, kulaktan dolma bilgiye yer yok!


Şimdilik duydukları yönünde bir kanıt yokmuş. O asansör müziğini kapatabilirsiniz.


Eldeki çok kısıtlı imkanlarla neler neler yapıyorlarmış meğerse bitkiler? Ve daha önemlisi NASIL!? Başta saydığım konular olmak üzere birçok sıkıntıdan, beladan sıyrılmalarını sağlayacak hayrete düşüren çözümleri var! Hatta çıkardıkları dersleri çoluk çocuğa, gelecek nesillere aktaracak hafızaları da!

Bayıldım!

Darwin’i ayrıca anmadan geçemeyeceğim. Şükran ve saygılarımla. Onlar ne güzel deneyler!

Not:
Yazarımızın konuyla ilgili yapmış olduğu bir sunum:
What a Plant Knows with Daniel Chamovitz

[Ajeje Brazov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il biologo autore di questo saggio, ci accompagna nel viaggio attraverso i "sensi" delle piante. Le piante possono sentire, vedere ecc...?
Chamowitz, attraverso esperimenti, prove e studi vari sulla biologia delle piante ci racconta che le piante hanno un loro modo di rapportarsi con l'esterno. Apparentemente immobili, le piante e i vegetali in genere, in realtà sono molto attive e condividono sensazioni con ciò che le circonda, altri vegetali, animali, insetti, esseri umani ecc...
Nello specifico di questo saggio, l'autore raffronta i 5 sensi umani con eventuali sensi dei vegetali.
E' stata una lettura davvero molto interessante ed emozionante... perchè la pianta sa :-D

[Fulya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bitkiler hakkında ne kadar cahilmişim meğer! Bu kitap asla popülizme kaçmadan bitkiler hakkında yapılmış deneylerden yola çıkarak bizi bitkilerin beş duyusuna doğru yola çıkarıyor. Bitkiler sağırmış meğer. O kadar konuşuyordum ben de onlarla, boşa gevezelik ediyormuşum. Ama hafızaları varmış, daha önce hiç aklıma gelmemişti bunu düşünmek.

Ve Darwin'e ne çok şey borçluyuz, hep hayvanlarla ilgili çalışmalarını biliyoruz ama bitkilere de çok emek sarf etmiş. Evrim yok diyenin kafasına bu kitabı atmak istiyorum.

[Cate (Kate) Caruso · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light and moderately enjoyable read, and even though it delves into a fair amount of science ranging from biology, to biochemistry and beyond, it still comes up a little thin. I found myself wanting more. I'm realizing that "more" would have been a greater emphasis on how the research on plant senses: smell, touch, hearing, seeing, etc, relates to the everyday care-taking of plants. In short, a more horticultural bent would have been more interesting to me. Michael Pollan's The Biology of Desire comes to mind - a much more worthwhile read than this, in my view.

To sum up, Chamovitz lays out the various human concepts of the senses and draws the plant analogies. He outlines the facts of our evolutionary connection, but fails to take the opportunity to stop in a moment of awe at our primal connection. At the end, he concludes with questions of plant intelligence and self-awareness. Interesting questions, mostly debunked (although the self-awareness question lingers)....and ends with the observation that though the old oak tree might not remember you "You, on the other hand, can remember this particular tree and carry the memory of it with you forever".

Personally, I prefer Robert Frost or Mary Oliver's perspective on trees. Or, Martha Nussbaum, "Be more more like a plant than like a jewel, something rather fragile, but whose very particular beauty is inseparable from that fragility"...and in so doing, we become better human beings. Now that, to me, is interesting....

[Tuğçe Kozak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artık bir bitkinin yanından geçerken daha farklı şeyler düşüneceğim 🍀

[John Kaufmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating little book. Describes how plants sense things - how they detect and respond to light, touch, smell, sound, and how a plant remembers - with the experiments that led to these conclusions.

It describes Darwin's experiment that determined that it is the tip of plants that sense the presence of light. It describes the experiments that determined how ethylene induces ripening, and how the trait evolved as a response to environmental stresses such as drought and as a mechanism to ensure uniform ripening (in order to attract animals that would eat and spread the plants seed). It discusses how plants emit defense hormones (such as salicylic acid) when wounded or infected to activate immune reactions elsewhere in the plant. It describes experiments that discovered how plants feel touch and how they respond. It describes how some plants even "remember", that allows them to differentiate spring from fall (when temperatures, length of day, rainfall may be similar) based on what preceded it; this is crucial in telling a plant when to sprout, flower, produce, etc.

The author also looks at hearing and evaluates the popular claim, based on experiments, that plants grow better with classical music than with rock. As it turns out, plants can't hear. You'll have to read the book to find out how the initial claim was made and how it was subsequently disproved.

[Tuba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Popüler bilim dergisi tadında bir kitap.

Özellikle Bitkilerin Duydukları bölümünde, bitkilerin sese tepki vermediklerini söylemesi ilgi çekiciydi. Chamowitz’in anlattıklarına göre, bitkilere klasik müzik dinletmelerimiz, bitkilerle konuşmalarımız ve karşılığında tepki verdiklerini düşünüşlerimiz hep illüzyon.

Onlar görüyorlar, hissediyorlar, kokluyorlar, hatırlıyorlar ve tüm bu yetkinlikleri, hayatta kalmak için gereken çevresel bilgi aktarımını onlara sağlıyor. Böylece işitmeye ihtiyaç hissetmedikleri için tabiri caizse sağır olarak evrimleşmiş bulunuyorlar.

Bizim evrimsel gerçekliğimiz ise bir konu, alegoriyle anlatıldığında onu daha rahat kavrıyor oluşumuz. Popüler bilim anlatıcıları bunun farkındalar ve evreni insan-biçimci benzetmelerle anlattıklarında, bunun bizde daha çok merak uyandırdığının ve bize daha iyi bir anlama sağladığının bilincindeler: “Ağaçlar birbirleriyle konuşur ”, “Toprak sizi dinliyor olabilir”, “ Yürüyen taşlar keşfettik”, “ Hisseden kayalıklar var” gibi başlıklar atıyorlar yazılarına. Kitabın yazarı Chamovitz, bu anlatış biçiminin, gerçekleri çarpıtmaya meyilli olduğunun farkında ama yine de kitabını böyle bir üslupla yazmaktan kendini alamamış: Bitkiler ne biliyor? :)

Dinlendirici ve akıcı bir okuma yapmak isteyenler sevebilir. Ben sevdim, tavsiye ederim.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating to ponder what a plant does know - essential reading for anyone who gardens or has house plants or who admires the trees in the park! Sciency but in a very understandable way. Very much recommended.

*So the next time you find yourself on a stroll thru a park, take a second to ask yourself: What does the dandelion in the lawn see? What does the grass smell? Touch the leaves of an oak, knowing that the tree will remember it was touched. But it won't remember you. You, on the other hand, can remember this particular tree and carry the memory of it with you forever.*

*"I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!" John Muir*

*"The oaks and the pines, and their brethren of the wood, have seen so many suns rise and set, so many seasons come and go, and so many generations pass into silence, that we may well wonder what "the story of the trees" would be to us if they had tongues to tell it, or we ears fine enough to understand." Maud van Buren*

[Sobriquet · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging read that serves as a great introduction to plant chemical ecology. My only complaint is that I found it to be a little sparse on actual scientific explanation, but I do have a degree in horticulture science. Still, I think this book should be required reading - so few seem to realize that plants are complex organisms that must engage in the types of warfare typically found only in science fiction.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn't overly complex or chock full of "things never known". It *is* brimming with the fascinating! It is very well written and creative and fun. Bonus: It's also an entertaining book to read aloud to kids who are interested in plants. Mine heard the first chapter and would like to hear more. I thank the scientist author for fresh and creative writing that made us ponder and smile.

[Veronika Sebechlebská · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sú tu. Tvory, ktoré sa nebadane pohybujú medzi nami. Sledujú nás, aj keď nemajú oči, počujú, aj keď nemajú uši.
Kaleráby. A reďkovky. A tulipány. A ďalších 400 000 druhov rastlín, ktoré toho skrývajú viac, ako by ste si boli kedy pomysleli.

[Irem Tatar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yüzümde sürekli gülümsemeyle okuduğum bir kitap oldu. Bitkilere has görme, koklama ve hatırlama (ki epigenetik kavramını daha detaylı okuma isteği oluşturdu bende - "anının varlığını yalnızca tek bir organizma içinde bir mevsim boyunca değil, nesilden nesile sürdürmesini sağlama" ile ilgili) konularına dair safsata yapmayan, kaynaklara dayalı, güzel bir bilim okuması oldu. Deve tabanımı ara sıra öpmenin iyi bir fikir olmadığını öğrenmiş oldum, daha ne :)

[Chiara F. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosa una pianta vede, annusa, prova, ascolta, ricorda? Quanto è consapevole del luogo in cui si trova?
Chamovitz, analizzando i "sensi" delle piante capitolo per capitolo, ci accompagna, paragonandoli con quelli che sono i sensi degli esseri umani, in un viaggio alla scoperta di ciò che una pianta è, sopratutto di quello che noi non vediamo ad occhio nudo. Riportando un gran numero di studi ed esperimenti (e sottolineando quanto spesso questi siano stati visti con occhio critico dal mondo scientifico) presenti già tra il 1800 e gli inizi del 1900 (con una grande evoluzione con le ultime scoperte in campo genetico), ci rende partecipe di come una pianta possa evolvere, possa crescere e adattarsi a quelle che sono le possibili difficoltà che può incontrare durante l'arco della sua vita.

"Così, la prossima volta che vi ritrovate a passeggiare attraverso un parco, soffermatevi un istante a domandarvi: cosa vede il dente di leone nel prato? Che cosa annusa l'erba? Toccate le foglie di una quercia, sapendo che l'albero rammenterà di essere stato toccato."

[Gokce Atac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sınırları zorlayan bir yolculuk… Bitkilere bakışım kesinlikle değişti…
Onları duyan, hisseden belki de düşünen varlıklar olarak görmek…

[Jimmy Ele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book that outlines briefly the scientific information we have concerning what a plant "feels, sees, hears, thinks, and smells". Those terms are in quotations for a reason. We can only perceive these aspects of a plant's sensory perceptions through our own limited human sensory perceptions. My favorite part of the book was the chapter on what a plant feels (in particular how they feel gravity and their internal circumnutational dance). The book was worth it for the chapters on light and gravity and how plants respond to these universal realities.

[Mateo Toledo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy directo, sin paja. Un libro muy ameno e interesante.

[Hesper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely an excellent analogy of life forms, and how plants use their senses to operate in their environment successfully. Quick reading with just enough scientific research to back up the discussion.

[Zelal Ay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doğadan koşar adım uzaklaştığımız bu yaşam biçiminden evrimin ahengine açılan bir kapı oldu bu kitap. İyi dinleyin, bitkiler kağıda dönüşmeden önce de çok şey söylüyor.

[zep · Rating 4 out of 5]

artık bitkiler benim kardeşlerim
12.sınıfta öğrendiğim bilgilerin bazılarını gördüm hatta üstüne de kattım, metis bilim inanılmaz bir şey gerçekten

[Arnau Fernández Pasalodos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un diez a este tipo, que decidió empezar su libro diciendo: "Piense en esto: las plantas le ven".

He aprendido un montón sobre las plantas que me acompañan en casa y las que nos rodean, es alucinante lo poco que sabemos de ellas.

Gracias por el préstamo, Ceci❤️

[David Raz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent popular science book. I have no formal biology education, though I am a scientist of sorts, or at least that is what my Ph.D. claims. When I browsed through the list of contents, I got worried. "What a plant sees", "what a plant feels", "what a plant remembers". I do not care for anthropomorphizing, and I was worried this book is one of those insubstantial books about how plants are similar to us so we should care about them. But no worries, this book is the exact opposite.
The author is very careful not to make claims he cannot scientifically substantiate. Each chapter begins with a short review of how humans (and animals) see, smell, feel etc. Only then does he explain in what way plants are similar, in what way they are different, and most importantly, how we learnt, in the most scientifically rigorous way, that this is the case. The explanations are clear even for someone as myself, which has no biological knowledge at all.
I also like how, even when it is obvious the author does not think very positively about the scientific worth of something (like Dorothy L. Retallack's The Sound of Music and Plants) he is very careful not to ridicule them, and let you be the judge. The size of the book, 150 pages, was very appropriate, enough for a concise and interesting review, several hours of enjoyable reading, yet not too much to get you tired.
This is exactly what I expect of popular science – I learned my fill about how plants see, smell, feel and so on, and it was all proper science, yet not too complicating to tire me. Four stars out of five.
אני אתחיל מהסוף – זה ספר מדע פופולרי מצוין. אין לי חינוך ביולוגי רשמי, אם כי אני מדען מסוג כלשהו, או לפחות זה מה שהדוקטורט שלי טוען. כשהצצתי בתוכן העניינים די חששתי – "מה רואים הצמחים", "מה מרגישים הצמחים" וכן הלאה. אני לא אוהב במיוחד אנתרופומורפיזציה והייתי מודאג שהספר הזה הוא אחד מאותם ספרים חסרי משקל איך שהצמחים דומים לנו ואנחנו צריכים לדאוג להם. אבל אל דאגה, הספר הזה הוא ההפך הגמור.
המחבר נזהר מאוד שלא לטעון שום טענה שהוא לא יכול להוכיח מדעית. כל פרק מתחיל בסקירה קצרה על איך בני אדם (ובעלי חיים) רואים, מריחים, מרגישים וכו' ורק אח"כ עובר המחבר להסביר איך הצמחים דומים, במה הם שונים, והכי חשוב, איך אנחנו יודעים זאת. את זה הוא מסביר בצורה המדוקדקת ביותר מבחינה מדעית אבל גם בהסברים ברורים אפילו למישהו כמוני, שאין לו ידע ביולוגי כלל.
אהבתי גם את הדרך שבה גם כאשר ברור המחבר לא חושב באופן חיובי במיוחד על הערך המדעי של משהו (כמו העבודה של דורותי רטלק) הוא נזהר מאוד מללעוג להם ונותן לקורא להיות השופט. גם האורך של הספר, כ-150 עמודים, היה נכון מאוד עבורי, מספיק בשביל לתת סקירה ממצה ומעניינת, מספר שעות של קריאה מהנה, אבל לא יותר מדי בשביל לא לעייף.
זה בדיוק מה שאני מצפה מדע פופולרי - למדתי כל מה שרציתי על מה ואיך צמחים רואים, מריחים וכן הלאה והכל במדע רציני וטוב אבל לא מסובך או מעייף. ארבעה כוכבים מתוך חמישה.

[Vasha7 · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a Plant Knows is a very brief survey of research into plant senses and awareness: a bare 120 pages divided into sections on sight, hearing, smell, touch, proprioception, and memory. A fascinating subject, to be sure, but too shallowly and sketchily treated. The author writes at an extremely introductory level, thinking it necessary to explain things like what a cell wall is*; all these explanations, along with abundant comparisons between humans and plants, plus the chatty style of the writing, scarcely leave room for the real meat of the subject. The important experiments, and what they reveal about plant abilities, are described in oversimplified, incomplete form. At the end of the section on gravity sensing, which has been all about the role of statoliths (tiny stones in cells), the author notes, "The overall mechanism of sensing gravity is more complex than simply statoliths falling within the cell" -- and that's it. So this book is better suited to amuse and intrigue the reader than to truly inform. For that reason, the epilogue, a general consideration of the meaning of plant awareness, may be the best part. It reflects on both the commonalities and the profound differences between how we and the plants experience the world, and urges us to think about the lives they're leading when we see them.


* The author doesn't really have a gift for simple explanations, either. Consider this misleading account of osmosis (a term he doesn't use): "The high concentration of potassium inside the cell relative to the outside causes water to enter the cell in a futile attempt to dilute the potassium." At another place he describes the genetic code, mutations, and such basic concepts, but then goes on to talk about stem cells without saying what they are.

[Olga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never been a fan of botany and I have a complicated relationship with plants in general. But this books is a page turner.
Being a vegetarian, I was a bit nervous starting it. The book promised to explain how plants are aware of their environment. So, my reflex was to tag a carrot with feelings and imagine it suffer, while being eaten raw.
Thank heavens, I was wrong. The book didn't make me say no to the last bits of real food. Instead, it made me aware of the world of these green things that keep on wilting in my pots.
The real eye opener was the fact that the more you pet a plant, the faster it dies, which means that while I was trying to establish a friendly contact with my green friends, they were seeing me as a pure intruder and an undesirable. I guess it was Thich Nhat Hanh who said: To love without knowing how to love wounds the person plant we love.

[Hande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bazı bölümlerde benim için fazla bilimsel olan anlatımlar dikkatimi dağıtsa da bitkilerin ne yaptığını öğrenmek için harika bir kaynak.

[HELENE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich geh jetzt mit meinen Pflanzen Vivaldi hören.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

Very interesting to learn about the mechanisms with which plants sense the world! I will certainly think more about this while out in nature.