What do you think?
Rate this book
Sunflowers: The Secret History
"[A] lively, compulsively readable account" ( Entertainment Weekly ) of the world's most beloved weed,
Most people know that Hitler made a serious blunder by invading Russia. Most people don't know that it was the sunflower that prompted him to attempt the invasion. It's true-when the wartime cost of cooking oil spiked, Hitler sought an alternative source of oil. He thought he found it in Russia's cash crop of golden sunflower fields.
Promiscuously social and perennially popular, the sunflower has colored the narrative of human history for the past thousand years. Joe Pappalardo's unexpected and highly entertaining social history of this scandalous flower stretches from the Stone Age to the Space Age braves such topics as plagiarism and flatulence. Pappalardo explains how sunflowers nearly prevented the Irish potato famine and why this deceptively innocent-looking flower is one of the few species that masturbates. This coy tell-all is a delight for flower lovers and trivia buffs alike.
Most people know that Hitler made a serious blunder by invading Russia. Most people don't know that it was the sunflower that prompted him to attempt the invasion. It's true-when the wartime cost of cooking oil spiked, Hitler sought an alternative source of oil. He thought he found it in Russia's cash crop of golden sunflower fields.
Promiscuously social and perennially popular, the sunflower has colored the narrative of human history for the past thousand years. Joe Pappalardo's unexpected and highly entertaining social history of this scandalous flower stretches from the Stone Age to the Space Age braves such topics as plagiarism and flatulence. Pappalardo explains how sunflowers nearly prevented the Irish potato famine and why this deceptively innocent-looking flower is one of the few species that masturbates. This coy tell-all is a delight for flower lovers and trivia buffs alike.
- GenresScienceNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 2008
5 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Joe Pappalardo
22 books53 followersJOE PAPPALARDO is the author of the critically acclaimed books Inferno: The True Story of a B 17 Gunner’s Heroism and the Bloodiest Military Campaign in Aviation History, Sunflowers: The Secret History and Spaceport Earth: The Reinvention of Spaceflight . Pappalardo is a freelance journalist and former associate editor of Air & Space Smithsonian magazine, a writing contributor to National Geographic magazine, a contributor to Texas Monthly, and a former senior editor and current contributor to Popular Mechanics. He has appeared on C-Span, CNN, Fox News and television shows on the Science Channel and the History Channel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 2, 2019
We are, as I have said before, living through the Golden Age of popular science writing. Golden Ages are rarely (if ever) recognized as such while they are happening. But, right now, there are scientists and science journalists who are working away on eminently readable and entertaining books about every topic under the sun (or over it). Not just the big ones like the beginning of the universe or how evolution works, but much more specific ones, like...rats, pigeons, a wide range of diseases, inventions of many different kinds, and yes, sunflowers.
Good science writing not only informs you about the particular topic. It also ties that topic to human history, the natural world, the history of science, and your life today. So it is with Pappalardo, who I have not read anything by, before this. We learn about Mennonites in Russia who moved to Canada, bringing a knowledge of sunflower farming with them. We learn about how sunflowers originated in North America, were first domesticated in North America, and then had to circle the planet to western Europe, eastern Europe, Siberia, before finally coming back to our attention through Canada. We learn how the biases and blind spots of fashion can afflict agriculture and agribusiness just as much as any other field. We learn a lot.
We also meet a lot of people, from all of these places, who try to make their way in the world, by way of sunflowers. Some of them are farmers, some of them are scientists. We learn that the downside of being from here (in this case, "here" meaning North America) is that the parasites and diseases are quite well adapted to you. We watch as 20th and 21st century scientists, grown men with advanced degrees and secure professional positions, gallivant about the place poking their nose into remote roadsides and fields looking for heretofore undiscovered sunflower species.
In the last few centuries, the breadth and variety of a typical human's diet may have broadened, but the variety of humanity's diet has shrunk. That is, while a typical peasant a few centuries ago might have had to eat one or two grains for much of the year, the peasants in different countries were eating different ones, and across different continents there was almost nothing in common. Now, the Big Three of Wheat, Corn, and Soy have nearly displaced all else. We may be seeing a resurgence of other crops in the last decade or so, but it is still the case that our species' plant diet looks much like the distribution of money in a capitalist economy, with a few crops predominant and many, many others with far smaller acreage. Sunflowers are one of those in the middle ground, neither so exotic as quinoa nor one of the Big Three. As we read of its struggles to maintain its position when all the big guns of agribusiness are focused elsewhere, we see a reflection of the struggles of any medium sized business, or medium-sized town, or medium-sized country, to maintain its position amidst the giants.
I cannot honestly claim that it was life-changing to read this much about sunflowers. There is, however, a quiet and altogether pleasant satisfaction to be gained from reading about such a topic in depth, from knowing that each and every part of the world around us has a deep, long, and multifaceted story behind it. I look out my window now, and see finches and cardinal and chickadees and pigeons alight there, eat a sunflower seed or three, and depart. The cardinal nest in the tree right outside my bedroom window, appears to have a fuzzy new resident, who is probably composed of a goodly percentage of sunflower seeds. Thanks to Joe Pappalardo, I know just a little bit more about how that all came to happen.
Good science writing not only informs you about the particular topic. It also ties that topic to human history, the natural world, the history of science, and your life today. So it is with Pappalardo, who I have not read anything by, before this. We learn about Mennonites in Russia who moved to Canada, bringing a knowledge of sunflower farming with them. We learn about how sunflowers originated in North America, were first domesticated in North America, and then had to circle the planet to western Europe, eastern Europe, Siberia, before finally coming back to our attention through Canada. We learn how the biases and blind spots of fashion can afflict agriculture and agribusiness just as much as any other field. We learn a lot.
We also meet a lot of people, from all of these places, who try to make their way in the world, by way of sunflowers. Some of them are farmers, some of them are scientists. We learn that the downside of being from here (in this case, "here" meaning North America) is that the parasites and diseases are quite well adapted to you. We watch as 20th and 21st century scientists, grown men with advanced degrees and secure professional positions, gallivant about the place poking their nose into remote roadsides and fields looking for heretofore undiscovered sunflower species.
In the last few centuries, the breadth and variety of a typical human's diet may have broadened, but the variety of humanity's diet has shrunk. That is, while a typical peasant a few centuries ago might have had to eat one or two grains for much of the year, the peasants in different countries were eating different ones, and across different continents there was almost nothing in common. Now, the Big Three of Wheat, Corn, and Soy have nearly displaced all else. We may be seeing a resurgence of other crops in the last decade or so, but it is still the case that our species' plant diet looks much like the distribution of money in a capitalist economy, with a few crops predominant and many, many others with far smaller acreage. Sunflowers are one of those in the middle ground, neither so exotic as quinoa nor one of the Big Three. As we read of its struggles to maintain its position when all the big guns of agribusiness are focused elsewhere, we see a reflection of the struggles of any medium sized business, or medium-sized town, or medium-sized country, to maintain its position amidst the giants.
I cannot honestly claim that it was life-changing to read this much about sunflowers. There is, however, a quiet and altogether pleasant satisfaction to be gained from reading about such a topic in depth, from knowing that each and every part of the world around us has a deep, long, and multifaceted story behind it. I look out my window now, and see finches and cardinal and chickadees and pigeons alight there, eat a sunflower seed or three, and depart. The cardinal nest in the tree right outside my bedroom window, appears to have a fuzzy new resident, who is probably composed of a goodly percentage of sunflower seeds. Thanks to Joe Pappalardo, I know just a little bit more about how that all came to happen.
December 20, 2016
2.5 stars. I love sunflowers, they're my favorite flower, so I wanted to love this book. Although this book was an easy read, I struggled to finish it. I enjoyed the early history of the sunflower, I was unaware of its origins. There were sections in this book that seemed to drag though, specifically the history of the sunflower in Russia. I enjoyed the sections about GM foods and the role sunflowers play in oil and biofuel options. The style of writing started to bother me towards the end, the chapter and section endings sometimes left me with more questions than answers.
December 19, 2014
I will begin by saying that I am a huge fan of the sunflower myself. From that love, I believe, stems my disappointment in this book. I can overlook the occasional broken sentences and typos but I cannot forgive that a book that proclaims to be a biography of the sunflower is more about the people that chance-encountered it than the way the plant has captivated humanity and spread across the globe. The people get pages of attention, even those that barely had anything to do with the plant, and you'll find the actual spread of the sunflower in a few short paragraphs. Interesting facts about what made the plant appealing to its growers and its successes are scattered sentences in long-winded chapters about people. The biggest draw this book has is the ability to point you in the right direction if you're looking for papers written about the sunflower.
Overall, I find myself frustrated by the repetition of certain facts at every opportunity and feel that the book could have been more interesting if the information was organized into a more cohesive narrative that didn't have you jumping through time and over oceans without any warning. Additionally, I find the author is rather liberal with inserting his own opinions throughout the text without providing much argument in their favor. I would not recommend this book to anyone seeking facts or anyone seeking entertainment as it accomplishes neither.
If the author were to further polish this book, I have no doubt it could be great but I am left with the impression that his work is unfinished.
Overall, I find myself frustrated by the repetition of certain facts at every opportunity and feel that the book could have been more interesting if the information was organized into a more cohesive narrative that didn't have you jumping through time and over oceans without any warning. Additionally, I find the author is rather liberal with inserting his own opinions throughout the text without providing much argument in their favor. I would not recommend this book to anyone seeking facts or anyone seeking entertainment as it accomplishes neither.
If the author were to further polish this book, I have no doubt it could be great but I am left with the impression that his work is unfinished.
May 16, 2008
I enjoyed this book to some extent -- I love sunflowers and I love books that fill my brain with interesting-but-unlikely-ever-to-be-useful information. I was frustrated by the author's tendency to end chapters with building-the-anticipation statements such as "...nothing would compare to the influence that human beings and sunflowers were destined to have on one another. And neither would be the same again." -- without following through on the build-up. If you're interested in this kind of thing, you don't need the promise of an amazing revelation about how sunflowers changed the course of history to keep you interested -- you just need a chance to go deep into the biology and history of sunflowers.
September 19, 2015
Subtitled "The Secret History", the book traces the relationship of humans and sunflowers back to prehistoric times (spoiler alert: much debate about actual origin of cultivated sunflowers). Probably more than you ever want to know about sunflowers but I like these kind of books that look at something I've never really thought about and show all the work that has gone into making it what it is today. Like salt or red dye, the sunflower appears around the globe and is important to many people.
August 20, 2018
I did not know much about sunflowers before I read this book. All I knew is that I like to grow them. I was surprised to learn that Russia is a big country for sunflowers. I would have never thought that. Why can't I ever think of more to write in a book review. Its a good thing that book reviewing is not my career. Anyway the book was fun to read and I think I learned more about sunflowers than I already new. I read the hardcover edition of this book not the paperback. I also never knew about sunflower oil before this book. I mean I never knew that people made and used sunflower oil.
June 1, 2008
Excellent non-f look at sunflowers - from their beginning (as so far determined by researchers).
Amazing "Forest Gump-like" tour of this "weed's" place and importance at critical points in world history -- for instance, Hitler's jealousy over Soviet sunflower fields, and Germany's urgent need for cooking oil, was a factor in Hitler's invasion of Russia in WWII.
Science rocks!
Amazing "Forest Gump-like" tour of this "weed's" place and importance at critical points in world history -- for instance, Hitler's jealousy over Soviet sunflower fields, and Germany's urgent need for cooking oil, was a factor in Hitler's invasion of Russia in WWII.
Science rocks!
July 30, 2020
Interesting facts about the way the sunflower traveled around the globe and the ways it has been grown and studied; the ways these facts were personified and the uneven editing at times made this feel like a long article grown to book-length. A good sunflower overview that provides a strong list of books to read next.
May 4, 2008
Don't read this unless you really love botany or sunflowers in particular. The author seems obsessed with his subject and if he mentioned one more time that Germany invaded Russia in World War II to get access to the sunflower fields I was going to scream.
November 23, 2009
Quick, easy read. It's an interesting topic, but I'm glad the author didn't go on for a couple hundred more pages and get too bogged down in details. It's about the right length at 225 pages with large print.
December 26, 2012
I don't know why I am enjoying reading this but I am. We'll see how it ends.
Ok, so I couldn't finish reading it. It just moved way too slow. It had too much genetic information and background for me that I simply didn't understand and didn't want to.
Ok, so I couldn't finish reading it. It just moved way too slow. It had too much genetic information and background for me that I simply didn't understand and didn't want to.
January 11, 2015
Who knew that sunflowers were so interesting as well as visually captivating. Their history encompasses Peter the Great, Mennonites, Hitler and Nasa. This book is engagingly written while the botany is comprehensible. Alas, no recipes.
July 14, 2008
Strangely, it did not make me want to enjoy roasted, salted sunflower seeds. It made me a little queasy (sunflower oil), though, and now I see sunflowers everywhere.
August 19, 2008
lots of facts about sunflower. but not well written. sort of the good house keeping version of natural history. too bad. its one of my favortie subjects.
the ussr chapters are interesting though.
the ussr chapters are interesting though.
Want to read
November 19, 2008My friend Joe wrote this!
Read
January 21, 2009Interesting read. Who knew Sunflowers have played such a huge role in the history of mankind, starting of wars and more.
Read
September 27, 2009This book just was not as interesting as I hoped it would be.
I read about 1/3 of it and skimmed the rest.
I read about 1/3 of it and skimmed the rest.
February 9, 2018
Another book I just had to quit. It has a great concept and fascinating history, but needs a better editor to make it more readable. I love sunflowers and it couldn't hold my attention. Bummer.
May 19, 2020
This is an interesting book about the realities of the sunflower. It was a fun book and extremely informative.
January 30, 2021
A great write up of this colourful, happy flower, detailing the history across several countries and its more recent adventures into space.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews