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sushmita's review against another edition
All I wanted was to read a book about plants but instead had anti-communist, zionist and pro-space-colonialisation rhetoric thrown my way. I wouldn’t recommend reading this book.
blackberryblues's review
5.0
This quick look into Mancuso's fascinating research is well-written, engaging, and has a genuine awe and sweetness to it that really pulls the book to five stars.
sierralar's review against another edition
3.0
Loved the first part of the book, was a fun refresher on some aspects of botany. Did not like the second half thiugh. It felt like it was another book altogether, telling stories about how humans have used plants and interacted with them, and how we might use them in the future.
lauralinnea's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a random yet interesting book to pick up. I have been in such a weird reading mood recently and this intrigued me and I ended up really enjoying it. (I can't believe that I'm talking about a book about plants – no shade to plants but I just never thought I'd read a book about them other than my biology book at school) I guess it was kind of the point of the book but it truly made me think about how important plants are and – after all those experiments Mancuso talked about – how intelligent they can be.
This book is pretty short so it didn't take me long to listen to the audiobook and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and am in the mood to pick up some more non-fiction and learn new interesting things about the world.
This book is pretty short so it didn't take me long to listen to the audiobook and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and am in the mood to pick up some more non-fiction and learn new interesting things about the world.
m_chisholm's review against another edition
4.0
A spontaneous but inspiring detour into the active life of plants. Had no idea that they were thinking and communicating so much–and all without a brain! Really loved the part about the Capsicophagous being a slave to peppers.
mikusa's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this short book on plants. Plants seem much more intelligent (and devious!) than I realised. I knew they were special, but not quite so sophisticated. Also, Mancuso explains plants as plants, not as planty kinds of animals. They can't move, so they have to adapt to the dangers of their environment, not just escape it. I'm wondering now if perhaps plants haven't simply grown animals in order to produce more plants.......
davidr's review against another edition
4.0
I love reading science books straight from the scientist who is doing the research--when the book is well-written. And, in this book Stefano Mancuso, the founder of the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology, has written a superb gem. It is a short book, only 256 pages, and many of them are filled with photographs. But in this short space he covers a broad range of topics related to plants.
Now, I have to say that the title and subtitle are somewhat misleading. Plants do not revolt--they are not revolutionaries. But they do evolve, so I would suggest a different title. Also, while their intelligence and behavior is certainly described with surprises galore, that is only in the first half of the book. The second half of the book is equally interesting, but it is more about the lessons that architects and engineers have been taking from the structure of plants.
Mancuso writes about a truly surprising behavior of a vine named boquila trifoliolata. It was discovered only a few years ago, in 2013, that when the vine intertwines with other plants, its leaves change shape, color and size to mimic the leaves of other adjacent plants. A single vine has been found to mimic the leaves of three different close-by plants! But the real question is, how does this plant know what to mimic? Mancuso speculates that it is some sort of visual capability, aided by convex lens structures in the epidermis of its leaves.
I did not realize that the reason for deciduous trees changing color in the fall is still not understood. I always thought that it was because their leaves lose their green-colored chlorophyll. Mancuso claims that it is not due to depletion of chlorophyll, as it costs a lot of energy to change color. Instead, the change in color is intended to show insect predators that the tree is strong, and not to be trifled with.
Mancuso explains that because plants are immobile, they cannot have any single points of failure, in case of a predator eating a valuable organ. Therefore, plants have decentralized their functions. Plants do not have a brain, but nevertheless the respond well to problems, albeit slowly. While animals always respond to problems with movement, plants have root systems that act like a collective brain, a distributed intelligence.
The book makes a few diversions that seem to deviate from the central themes of the book. This is a bit irritating, but always fascinating nonetheless. One such diversion is the discussion about capsicophagous people, who are addicted to eating very hot chili peppers. Mancuso asks the question why people would self-inflict pain, and discusses a couple of interesting possibilities. He favors the hypothesis that people like the rush of endorphins that accompany hot spices, somewhat similar to the "runner's high."
The second half of the book describes how plants have been the inspiration to architects and engineers. For example, the phyllotactic tower is a concept that borrows its inspiration from plants. Some plants space their leaves in an arrangement to maximize their access to light. A swarm of plantoids--robots inspired by plants--have been proposed to explore and map the soils of Mars and other applications.
You can read this book in a few hours, and become inspired by the great variety of topics discussed in this book. The book does not hold together on a single theme, except for the incredible wonders of plants, that normally we don't think about.
Note: This review was of a pre-publication copy of the book, sent to me by the publisher.
Now, I have to say that the title and subtitle are somewhat misleading. Plants do not revolt--they are not revolutionaries. But they do evolve, so I would suggest a different title. Also, while their intelligence and behavior is certainly described with surprises galore, that is only in the first half of the book. The second half of the book is equally interesting, but it is more about the lessons that architects and engineers have been taking from the structure of plants.
Mancuso writes about a truly surprising behavior of a vine named boquila trifoliolata. It was discovered only a few years ago, in 2013, that when the vine intertwines with other plants, its leaves change shape, color and size to mimic the leaves of other adjacent plants. A single vine has been found to mimic the leaves of three different close-by plants! But the real question is, how does this plant know what to mimic? Mancuso speculates that it is some sort of visual capability, aided by convex lens structures in the epidermis of its leaves.
I did not realize that the reason for deciduous trees changing color in the fall is still not understood. I always thought that it was because their leaves lose their green-colored chlorophyll. Mancuso claims that it is not due to depletion of chlorophyll, as it costs a lot of energy to change color. Instead, the change in color is intended to show insect predators that the tree is strong, and not to be trifled with.
Mancuso explains that because plants are immobile, they cannot have any single points of failure, in case of a predator eating a valuable organ. Therefore, plants have decentralized their functions. Plants do not have a brain, but nevertheless the respond well to problems, albeit slowly. While animals always respond to problems with movement, plants have root systems that act like a collective brain, a distributed intelligence.
The book makes a few diversions that seem to deviate from the central themes of the book. This is a bit irritating, but always fascinating nonetheless. One such diversion is the discussion about capsicophagous people, who are addicted to eating very hot chili peppers. Mancuso asks the question why people would self-inflict pain, and discusses a couple of interesting possibilities. He favors the hypothesis that people like the rush of endorphins that accompany hot spices, somewhat similar to the "runner's high."
The second half of the book describes how plants have been the inspiration to architects and engineers. For example, the phyllotactic tower is a concept that borrows its inspiration from plants. Some plants space their leaves in an arrangement to maximize their access to light. A swarm of plantoids--robots inspired by plants--have been proposed to explore and map the soils of Mars and other applications.
You can read this book in a few hours, and become inspired by the great variety of topics discussed in this book. The book does not hold together on a single theme, except for the incredible wonders of plants, that normally we don't think about.
Note: This review was of a pre-publication copy of the book, sent to me by the publisher.