Why am I passionate about this?
A house plant in my living room attacked another plant, wrapping itself around it and killing it. Then another plant tried to sink roots into a neighbor. I began to do a little research, then a lot of research, and learned that plants accomplish amazing feats. They can tell by the angle of the sun when spring is coming, and they can call parasitic wasps to rid themselves of caterpillars. Plants vastly outweigh and outnumber animals, so they run this planet. What if, on another planet, they could think like us… and that’s why I wrote a novel.
Sue's book list on making you love plants
Why did Sue love this book?
Here we step into more controversial territory. Is “plant neurobiology” a thing? That is, can they think? Stefano Mancuso says yes, but not like us.
A plant behaves more like a swarm of insects, and each of its parts and cells reacts to changes in its environment, which affect the other cells around it, and in that way, a decentralized intelligence can reach what looks like a decision. Plants find solutions to the problems of life that would never occur to us, and we can copy them to make our own lives better.
Beautiful illustrations will help you fall in love with plants.
1 author picked The Revolutionary Genius of Plants as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
"In this thought-provoking, handsomely illustrated book, Italian neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso considers the fundamental differences between plants and animals and challenges our assumptions about which is the 'higher' form of life." -The Wall Street Journal
"Fascinating...full of optimism...this quick, accessible read will appeal to anyone with interest in how plants continue to surprise us." -Library Journal
Do plants have intelligence? Do they have memory? Are they better problem solvers than people? The Revolutionary Genius of Plants-a fascinating, paradigm-shifting work that upends everything you thought you knew about plants-makes a compelling scientific case that these and other astonishing ideas are all true.…