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A review by davidr
The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior by Stefano Mancuso
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.