Synopses & Reviews
From geraniums to begonias, the common plants that often adorn backyard gardens are rarely native to our region. The same goes for many of the diverse and delicious fruits and vegetables that grace our dinner tables. We take their accessibility and ubiquity for granted, unaware of the great debt we owe to the naturalists and explorers who traveled around the world in search of these then unusual plants and brought back samples and seedsand#8212;along with fantastic stories. In
The Plant Hunters, Carolyn Fry pays homage to those whose obsession with plants gave rise to our own passion for botanicals and gardening.
Lavishly illustrated with more than one hundred images from the archives at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, The Plant Hunters offers an accessible history of plant exploration and discovery through short, informative entries. From the naturalists of Alexander the Greatand#8217;s entourage to pioneering botanists such as Joseph Hooker, Joseph Banks, and Alexander von Humboldt, Fryand#8217;s history covers the globe in its celebration of our fascination with plants. She shows how coconut trees and numerous fruits and vegetables were spread from one country to many, and the significant role that newly discovered plants, including tulips, tea, and rubber, have played in economic history. The Plant Hunters also traces the establishment of botanical gardens and the many uses of plants in medicine. In addition to stunning botanical drawings, the book features several unique facsimiles, including a letter from Carl Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy; extracts from Joseph Hookerand#8217;s notebooks; an extract from the orchid sketchbook of John Day; and an original map of Kew Gardens made in 1740 by Jean Rocque.
This gorgeous and entertaining history will be a perfect gift for gardeners, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of the histories of science and discovery.
Review
"Engagingly written study."--Geographical
"Flower Hunters is a welcome addition to the genre...This is a book for the general reader...the stories are wonderful."--Literary Review, Julia Keay
Review
and#8220;Delightfully, the book includes pouches filled with facsimile documents, like sketches of rare orchids. Itand#8217;s like finding precious leaves pressed between the pages.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;In The Plant Hunters, Carolyn Fry sketches out humankindand#8217;s enduring hunger for botanical riches. She steps back 3,500 years to Ancient Egypt, then visits different parts of the globe and celebrates the contributions of important personalities like Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks. This journey is told through a series of lavishly illustrated two-page spreads, each distilling an episode in the history of plant collecting down to its most engaging details. . . . Full of fun facts, intriguing asides.and#8221;
Review
"From ancient Egypt to 17th-century tulipomania to Joseph Hooker in the Himalaya to modern-day seed stockpiling, this handsome slipcased book is a delight."
Review
and#160;and#8220;Fryand#8217;s lavish book . . . takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the human history of the botanical world.and#8221;
Review
Scholarly, Academic and Reference Books category
Review
"In this fascinating book, Carolyn Fry records the adventures of plant explorers around the globe, those individuals responsible for initial discoveries in exotic locales, botanical artists responsible for illustrations, and modern scientists focusing on the care of plants and the conservation of endangered species. Removable, facsimile documents, secured in envelopes within the text block, provide intriguing information for the reader."
Synopsis
Here is a fascinating account of eleven remarkable, eccentric, dedicated, and sometimes obsessive individuals who scoured the world for plants and helped established the science of botany.
Mary and John Gribbin bring to life these extraordinary adventurers, and draw out the scientific and cultural value of their work and its legacy. Beginning with John Ray--the Newton of botany--the authors span two centuries and take us around the world to illuminate the lives and discoveries of these fascinating figures. The reader meets Joseph Banks, the father of plant explorers and one of the most influential scientists of his time, who was the botanist on Cook's first voyage around the world. We follow Richard Spruce to South America, where he survived vampire bats, scorpions, armies of viciously stinging ants, disease, and even a plot to kill him. Likewise, Robert Fortune was attacked by pirates, suffered from tropical fevers, and wandered far-flung areas of China no European had ever seen--often in disguise, including a fake Pigtail--ultimately to smuggle nearly 25,000 young tea plants, more than 15,000 seedlings, and 8 Chinese growers into India, launching the black tea industry in the West. And finally Joseph Hooker, who trekked from the foothills of the Himalayas to the high passes, which led to his discovery of spectacular rhododendron trees and exquisite magnolias.
These first botanists and collectors not only established a new science, but transformed our landscapes and gardens forever. Indeed, gardeners will be intrigued to learn how everyday plants such as azaleas, chrysanthemums, and forsythias were brought back from the far corners of the earth. And everyone who loves a good adventure story will find this book riveting.
Synopsis
The flower hunters were intrepid explorers - remarkable, eccentric men and women who scoured the world in search of extraordinary plants from the middle of the seventeenth to the end of the nineteenth century, and helped establish the new science of botany. For these adventurers, the search for new, undiscovered plant specimens was something worth risking - and often losing - their lives for.
From the Douglas-fir and the monkey puzzle tree, to exotic orchids and azaleas, many of the plants that are now so familiar to us were found in distant regions of the globe, often in wild and unexplored country, in impenetrable jungle, and in the face of hunger, disease, and hostile locals. It was specimens like these, smuggled home by the flower hunters, that helped build the great botanical collections, and lay the foundations for the revolution in our understanding of the natural world that was to follow. Here, the adventures of eleven such explorers are brought to life, describing not only their extraordinary daring and dedication, but also the lasting impact of their discoveries both on science, and on the landscapes and gardens that we see today.
Synopsis
The flower hunters were intrepid explorers - remarkable, eccentric men and women who scoured the world in search of extraordinary plants from the middle of the seventeenth to the end of the nineteenth century, and helped establish the new science of botany. For these adventurers, the search for new, undiscovered plant specimens was something worth risking - and losing - their lives for.
From the Douglas-fir and the monkey puzzle tree, to exotic orchids and azaleas, many of the plants that are now so familiar to us were found in distant regions of the globe, often in wild and unexplored country, in impenetrable jungle, and in the face of hunger, disease, and hostile locals. It was specimens like these, smuggled home by the flower hunters, that helped build the great botanical collections, and lay the foundations for the revolution in our understanding of the natural world that was to follow. Here, the adventures of eleven such explorers are brought to life, describing not only their extraordinary daring and dedication, but alos the lasting impact of their discoveries both on science, and on the landscapes and gardens that we see today.
About the Author
Mary Gribbin and John Gribbin are among the best-known current popular science writers. Together, they have written many acclaimed books, including Ice Age, FitzRoy, Stardust, and Big Numbers.
Mary is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Sussex, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society with a special interest in plants and exploration. John is also a Visiting Fellow at the University of Sussex, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and the author of books including The Universe: A Biography, In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, and Science: A History.
Table of Contents
Prologue John Ray (1627-1705)
1. Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)
2. Joseph Banks (1743-1820)
3. Francis Masson (1741-1805) and Carl Peter Thunberg (1742-1828)
4. David Douglas (1799-1834)
5. William Lobb (1809-1864) and Thomas Lobb (1817-1894)
6. Robert Fortune (1812-1880)
7. Marianne North (1830-1890)
8. Richard Spruce (1817-1893)
9. Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911)