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Title: The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan ISBN: 0-375-76039-3 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 28 May, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.97 (90 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A book for those who love plants
Comment: Ever wonder what part of the Jonny Appleseed myth was fact or fiction? Or how genetically modified potatoes have changed agriculture in Idaho? This is a very interesting book to anyone who is fascinated with plants (and their people.) Pollan blends amusing personal anecdotes, historical synthesis, and intreging science surrounding popular plants. He falls into conjecture and academic jargon at times, but overall it's an enjoyable read.
Rating: 1
Summary: Too Little Genuine Research & Many Convoluted Conclusions!
Comment: This book is a prime example of a little knowledge ending up misleading the author and anyone who reads his writings. Michael Pollan intent was just to challenge the traditional views about humans and nature and thus came to the conclusion he wanted not what is actually true about American agricultural.
For example, Mr. Pollan is correct to say our agricultural and energy resources are closely connected, that is true but he did not go further in understanding why nor finding out why too. The fact is our oil industry actually created valuable products from the by-products after creating gasoline, kerosene and motor oil.
He did not research that the artificial fertilizers called "Urea" is really a creation from the nitrogen gases from the refinery process. The result was truly healthy new uses of urea to treat poor soils to enhance yields and growth of plants to feed more people too.
Mr. Pollan never checks how or why this by-product developed. It is a way to use a by-product of another product that normally would become waste. Instead, he wrongly concludes we are using oil resources for agricultural purposes. When they actually were, just by-products discovered after the refining process that put our oil resource by-products to even better uses, as if enhancing food yields with natural nitrogen found in the hydrocarbons of oil.
All Oil Refineries send the by-products of oil like Nitrogen and CO2 to chemical plants to make ammonia and urea that actually enhance soils to grow plants to feed the world. India and China are now the greatest importers and without Urea could not overcome the obstacles to feed their once starving nations. Yet, the author never knew this as seen in his book.
On the other hand, Mr. Pollan is right about American Agriculture purpose was to feed our population with many high carbohydrates such as corn, fruits, peas and grains. They fill you up but when taken in great quantities can cause many people diabetes especially from by-products like fructose from corn that replace sugar in soft drinks.
However, it is up to the person to watch what they intake in quantities and up to our agriculture to provide the supply to meet demand. Of course, too much bread, potatoes and corn will turn into instant sugar and why you must watch how much you do eat of them.
The fact is the elite and royalty always were able to afford high protein products like meat, poultry and fish. The average common man in earlier times could not so they created peasant food that is a mixture of carbs & starches like bread, pasta, gravy, mixed with small slices of meat.
In spite of that, Mr. Pollan concludes wrongly that our Agricultural cannot sustain itself and is misusing its resources when it is feeding the world far better than ever. What we need is more education on the subject but mixing some facts with wrong bias conclusions based on ignorance in this book is not the way to do it either.
The other misnomer is that American Farmers especially Diary Farmer know that Cows cannot provide good milk if they are not content and happy and when treated poorly actually produce milk that cannot be used.
Thus, once again Mr. Pollan is in error that Farmers mistreat their Cows when they eventually end up providing healthy beef too. Therefore, Farmers treat their cows with care and concern because if not they lose income from their hard work. Mr. Pollan just assumes the opposite that money is more important than the cows when actually there is no money in treating cows poorly or with chemicals that hurts them and us.
The bottom line, when journalists does not do the proper research and ends up mixing some of the truth without checking out all the facts, you end up with a book of untrustworthy information making me doubt his entire book.
I have read many books in my life, but this is one that I cannot recommend because of lazy research leading to wrong convoluted conclusions by the author who has let in his own personal bias prevail over objective facts out there for anyone to fairly research properly.
Rating: 2
Summary: Interesting Ideas, Boring Read
Comment: The Botany of Desire presents an innovative way to think about how plants have propagated. The ideas are fresh, but, unfortunately, too few for an entire book. This subject matter would have been better served in essay format. The history presented about the tulip, rose and potato is fun and interesting--worth the read in these parts, even though one has to wade through the interspersed philosophical musings of the author that are reiterated one too many times in (dare I say it?) overly-flowery language. The self-deprecating, blushing tales of pot smoking experimentation were silly and not worth the time to read. Honestly, I cannot recommend this book unless you want to be bored most of the time while reading it.
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Title: Second Nature by Michael Pollan ISBN: 0385312660 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 05 April, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation by Olivia Judson ISBN: 0805063323 Publisher: Owl Books Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: A Place of My Own : The Education of an Amateur Builder by Michael Pollan ISBN: 0385319908 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 09 February, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Anatomy of a Rose: Exploring the Secret Life of Flowers by Sharman Apt Russell ISBN: 0738206695 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 02 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins ISBN: 0060915870 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 08 March, 1989 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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