The Plant Hunters: The Adventures of the World's Greatest Botanical Explorers

by Carolyn Fry

From the Ancient Egyptians to the travelers along the silk and spice routes to the scientists still uncovering nearly 200 species a day, Plant Hunters tells the story of our obsession with all things that grow-both for their beauty and their economic potential. Accompanied by hundreds of beautiful illustrations, this intriguing tale moves from East to West and back again, introducing the botanists, explorers, and empire builders who gathered plants such as the coconut tree, roses, and numerous fruits and vegetables and brought them to foreign lands. These are the stories behind the plants we now take for granted in our gardens, as well as those that have enriched and impoverished nations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Plants, History, Science, Nature, Gardening, Natural History

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Metin Yılmaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bu kadar kapsamlı bir çalışma ile karşılaşacağımı ummuyordum. Hem detaylı bir anlatım hem tarihi bilgiler hem de tıpkı basımlarla beraber eşsiz bir çalışma olmuş. Meraklıların kaçırmaması gereken koleksiyonluk eserlerden biri.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I was into plants when I was a kid this would have done numbers on my library card.

[Tuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

less than 100 pages, but has removable facs. of famous, and not so, explorers and artists noting their finds. this book is centered around kew garden, but goes through history of plants and art and taxonomy from about 4000 bc (egypt etc) to present day (Svalbard seed bank and jordanian littoral foodplant park)
not a whole lot of text, mostly big beautiful historic plant paintings.
one drawback , but not really fixable, is plant names are latin only. though you may 'sort of' recognize some as they spread all over the globe as flowers, fruits, foods etc

[Geert · Rating 2 out of 5]

HIGH LIGHTS

* De aardappel (Solanum Tuberosum) komt oorspronkelijk uit Zuid-Amerika (Peru en Bolivia). Kwam via Canarische eilanden in 1570 naar Europa (Sevilla). Ierland werd er zo afhankelijk van dat toen in 1845/46 een oogst volledig was mislukt, 1 mio mensen stierven en nog eens 1,5 mio emigreerden. (p. 9) De Amerikaanse botanist Luther Burbank (1849-1926) ontwikkelde de “Russet Burbank” aardappel om Ierland te helpen de aardappelcrisis te boven te komen. Het werd een van de de meest populaire aardappels, die we nog steeds gebruiken. (wikipedia)
* De ontdekkingsreizen werden getriggered omdat door de val van Constantinopel in 1453 aanvoeren van specerijen niet langer over land kon (p. 10).
* De Fransman Carolus Clusius heeft de tulp naar NL gebracht en heeft de Leiden Hortus Botanicus gesticht in 1593. Nadat er tulpen uit zijn tuin waren gestolen, raakten de tulpen over heel NL verspreid (p. 14-15).

[Myra Flowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a scholarly volume concentrating on the plant hunters and their achievements rather than their adventures. The illustrations, photos and facsimiles are beautiful and a joy to see. The author concentrates heavily on the Kew gardens, which I knew very little about. A worthwhile read especially on hunters from the UK.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely engaging and fascinating read with useful and fun imagery.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book consists of two page essays on a variety of plant collectors and related subject. It is lavishly illustrated. A very good introduction to the study of the botanists themselves.

[Brooke(worm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I think additional editing would have done wonders (making it 5 stars), but on the whole it was done quite well. I certainly learned new things about plants and botanical related history that I didn’t know before. However some of the information was a bit repetitive within sections, and again this I put down to editing. Overall though, a great read.