Science and Inquiry discussion

I'm posting books to the botany bookshelf, and adding books to the ecology shelf.

Melissa, I note from another of your posts you're an expert in this area and can't wait to see what you recommend. I wonder if you might consider Seed to Seed: The Secret Life of Plants; I enjoyed it very much, perhaps because it is not hard-core science and I found it accessible.

Karen, thanks for your input. I'm not familiar with Seed to Seed, but it sounds like a good recommendation.

I just finished Material Faith Thoreau on Science...it was not what I was expecting at all, but I still found it interesting and it got me curious about Walden. Have you read either of them?

I've not read Walden, though I've always wanted to. I've read a bit of Thoreau's writings as part of a collection of essays.

Somehow, Walden always gets set aside as an "I'll get to it later, right how I want to read . . . ". Which is aggravating when this topic came up. Perhaps I should bit the bullet and read it!

How about David Attenborough's Private Life of Plants?



Also Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon

For those interested in plant anatomy, I've always loved Botany Coloring Book.

I used it as a reference while taking a course in plant anatomy.

A book I've not read, but it looks worthwhile and has received excellent reviews - The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession

From http://jeansgarden.wordpress.com/2010...


The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession by Andrea Wulf (Alfred A. Knopf, 2009) is a compelling account of the rise of ornamental gardening as a passionate pastime for the English middle classes as well as the elite, and the spread of that passion from England to other parts of the world. Wulf ties the rise of gardening as “an obsession” to the rise of the British empire, to the 18th century philosophy of the Enlightenment, and to the development of scientific botany.

I just got a message about this one:
Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

Ha...I came over here to see if anyone had posted Private Life of Plants. Nice work, Larry. I love Attenborough.

Me too Alex!!

New book I received for Christmas: Lives of the Trees. Looks good, organized by type of tree, brief summaries of ecology, distribution, history of name of tree, uses, etc.

That book is AWESOME.

I'm really looking foward to it. I've started reading it in the evening just before bed: I read about one or two trees at a time. I love that it is alphabetically organized in tight sections about each.

Here is also a link to some ecology essay topics - http://helpfulpapers.com/blog/2015/09.... Hope you'll like them.

Not sure if this is what you had in mind but plant related books I enjoyed are as follows:

The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health

Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence

Papyrus: The Plant that Changed the World: From Ancient Egypt to Today's Water Wars

The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live & Why They Matter

Survivors: The Animals and Plants That Time Has Left Behind. Richard Fortey (has plants and animals)

Rhs Propagating Plants

What Has Nature Ever Done for Us?: How Money Really Does Grow on Trees

Melissa wrote: "I've not read Walden, though I've always wanted to. I've read a bit of Thoreau's writings as part of a collection of essays...."

His descriptions of Maine forests & other places are certainly good, but he's a selfish little boy in many ways. If you ever do get around to reading Walden, you'll find that he's more like a kid living in the backyard tree house. His sister (I think) brings him food weekly & does his laundry. The way he treated his borrowed axe is criminal & his views on marriage are just awful. He describes a man's wife as his ball & chain. Ugh. I just want to smack him far too often. I preferred his The Maine Woods & A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

A New Voyage to Carolina by John Lawson is really worth reading if you want a feel for the Carolina, VA, W.VA land around 1700. He did a survey of the area for several English lords & this is his report. I didn't read all of it, mostly skimmed it for the parts about the trees. Amazing how fast the White mulberry went native. The book is free on Gutenberg.org here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1838

The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History

Jim wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I've not read Walden, though I've always wanted to. I've read a bit of Thoreau's writings as part of a collection of essays...."

His descriptions of Maine forests & other places ar..."

Hi Jim! Thanks for this suggestion!
You're right about Thoureau, he was definitely screwed up! but despite his (euphemistically) controversial personality, he's a pivotal figure in conservation ethic (not in other kinds of ethic, I suppose :) )