The history of the world in 100 plants
Barnes, Simon2022
Book
As humans, we hold the planet in the palms of ours hands. But we still consume the energy of the sun in the form of food. The sun is available for consumption because of plants. Plants make food from the sun by the process of photosynthesis; nothing else in the world can do this. We eat plants, or we do so at second hand, by eating the eaters of plants. Plants give us food. Plants take in carbon dioxide and push out oxygen: they give us the air we breathe, direct the rain that falls and moderate the climate. Plants also give us shelter, beauty, comfort, meaning, buildings, boats, containers, musical instruments, medicines and religious symbols. We use flowers for love, we use flowers for death. The fossils of plants power our industries and our transport. Across history we have used plants to store knowledge, to kill, to fuel wars, to change our state of consciousness, to indicate our status. The first gun was a plant, we got fire from plants, we have enslaved people for the sake of plants. We humans like to see ourselves as a species that has risen above the animal kingdom, doing what we will with the world. But we couldn't live for a day without plants. Our past is all about plants, our present is all tied up with plants; and without plants there is no future.
Main title:
The history of the world in 100 plants / Simon Barnes.
Author:
Barnes, Simon, author
Imprint:
London : Simon & Schuster, 2022.©2022
Collation:
431 pages : illustrations (colour) ; 25 cm
Notes:
Includes index.
ISBN:
9781398505483 (hbk)9781398505483 (hardback)
Dewey class:
304.2709581.09580
Language:
English
Added title:
BRN:
784098
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Melbourne Library | -Science and Nature | SCIENCE 581.09 BARN | On loan - Due: 08 Jul 2026 |
| narrm ngarrgu Library and Family Services | -Science and Nature | SCIENCE 580 BARN | On loan - Due: 29 Jun 2026 |