
What a Plant Knows:
a field guide to the senses
Buy ebook
What a Plant Knows:
a field guide to the senses
Overview
A captivating journey into the hidden lives of plants — from the colours they see to the schedules they keep.
Join renowned biologist Daniel Chamovitz as he leads a beguiling exploration of how plants experience our shared Earth — in terms of sight, smell, touch, hearing, memory, and even awareness. Combining cutting-edge research with lively storytelling, he explains the intimate details of plant behaviour, from how a willow tree knows when its neighbours have been commandeered by an army of ravenous beetles to why an avocado ripens when you give it the company of a banana in a bag. And he settles the debate over whether the beloved basil on your kitchen windowsill cares whether you play Led Zeppelin or Bach.
Thoroughly updated from root to leaf, this revised edition of the groundbreaking What a Plant Knows includes new revelations for green thumbs, science buffs, vegetarians, and nature lovers. This rare inside look at what life is really like for the grass we walk on, the flowers we sniff, and the trees we climb will surprise and delight you.
Details
- Format
- Size
- Extent
- ISBN
- RRP
- Pub date
- Other rights
- Paperback
- 210mm x 135mm
- 208 pages
- 9781925322095
- AUD$32.99
- 13 November 2017
- Farrar, Straus & Giroux NA
Praise
‘The original 2012 version of this mind-bending romp through the vegetable kingdom was a huge hit, and this extensively updated second edition delivers even more of a good thing. Humorous, engaging and endlessly surprising, Chamovtiz's tale makes plants seem so intriguing and so intensely alive (as opposed to just sitting-there alive) that it almost makes you want to stop eating salad.’
He analyses the intriguing parallels between plant and human senses in chapters devoted to what a plant sees, smells, feels, hears and remembers. It gives a whole new meaning to forget-me-nots.
About the Author
Daniel Chamovitz, PhD, is the director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University. He grew up in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, and studied at Columbia University before receiving his PhD in genetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been a visiting scientist at Yale University and at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and has lectured at universities worldwide. His research on plants and fruitflies has appeared in leading scientific journals. Chamovitz lives with his wife and three children in Hod HaSharon, Israel. His website is www.danielchamovitz.com.