What if just about everything you think you know about plants is wrong? This book looks into the idea that if we take a hard look at what we think it means to be a conscious being, research these days shows that plants may fit that definition. The book shows how they can (probably) smell, hear, taste, feel, communicate and see(!).
This book falls into an interesting category of both botany and philosophy, and the writer is a journalist rather than a scientist. This means that they can take chances that scientists cannot – and the book outlines what happened years ago when the idea of “plant intelligence” was first reported.
The book is filled with intriguing examples, from recent studies and knowledge that was obtained over the past 10-20 years. The writer does a good job of introducing the evidence (without getting bogged down in academic jargon) and simplifying things without ignoring balancing information from other places.
This felt like a passion project, and that helps greatly in introducing so much that might be buried in academic journals somewhere. That being said the writer definitely has an agenda, and so while I appreciate being informed of these new developments I can’t help but wonder how much further research might be needed before we can make conclusions.
It is a long read, but I thought it was worth it, if only to stretch out my brain a little. The book also served as a reminder that research is continuing all over the world – we need to take steps to keep up with what is new.
Next I am catching up with articles and shorter reads as we start our July vacation to Toronto, New York and Glen Ellen.
