Flowering Earth is an extraordinary work in which Peattie explores the origin and significance of plant life with an unmatched sense of astonishment and reflection. According to The New York Times, his prose in Flowering Earth “is pervaded by a continuous sense of beauty and illuminative insight,” and Books hails it as a piece “for people who are refreshed by any sort of emancipation from the trivial…”
“An empowering and expertly curated look at the horticultural world.” —Gardens Illustrated In this beautiful and empowering book, Jennifer Jewell introduces 75 inspiring women. Working in wide-reaching fields that include botany, floral design, landscape architecture, farming, herbalism, and food justice, these influencers are creating change from the ground up. Profiled women include flower farmer Erin Benzakein; codirector of Soul Fire Farm Leah Penniman; plantswoman Flora Grubb; edible and cultural landscape designer Leslie Bennett; Caribbean-American writer and gardener Jamaica Kincaid; soil scientist Elaine Ingham; landscape designer Ariella Chezar; floral designer Amy Merrick, and many more. Rich with personal stories and insights, Jewell’s portraits reveal a devotion that transcends age, locale, and background, reminding us of the profound role of green growing things in our world—and our lives.
The Study of Plants in a Whole New Light “Matt Candeias succeeds in evoking the wonder of plants with wit and wisdom.” ―James T. Costa, PhD, executive director, Highlands Biological Station and author of Darwin's Backyard #1 New Release in Nature & Ecology, Plants, Botany, Horticulture, Trees, Biological Sciences, and Nature Writing & Essays In his debut book, internationally-recognized blogger and podcaster Matt Candeias celebrates the nature of plants and the extraordinary world of plant organisms. A botanist’s defense. Since his early days of plant restoration, this amateur plant scientist has been enchanted with flora and the greater environmental ecology of the planet. Now, he looks at the study of plants through the lens of his ever-growing houseplant collection. Using gardening, houseplants, and examples of plants around you, In Defense of Plants changes your relationship with the world from the comfort of your windowsill. The ruthless, horny, and wonderful nature of plants. Understand how plants evolve and live on Earth with a never-before-seen look into their daily drama. Inside, Candeias explores the incredible ways plants live, fight, have sex, and conquer new territory. Whether a blossoming botanist or a professional plant scientist, In Defense of Plants is for anyone who sees plants as more than just static backdrops to more charismatic life forms. In this easily accessible introduction to the incredible world of plants, you’ll find: • Fantastic botanical histories and plant symbolism • Passionate stories of flora diversity and scientific names of plant organisms • Personal tales of plantsman discovery through the study of plants If you enjoyed books like The Botany of Desire, What a Plant Knows, or The Soul of an Octopus, then you’ll love In Defense of Plants.
Blake and Tradition is an investigation of the sources of Blake's knowledge of the Neoplatonic and Hermetic tradition and allied currents of thought. The volumes contain what was then new information on Blake's vast fund of exact knowledge in these fields, and Kathleen Raine interprets his works in the light of the ideas that originally inspired and informed them. The core of this important work of scholarship formed the A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts in 1962 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The expanded, two-volume work was originally published by Routledge & Kegan Paul in 1969.
A leading botanist and popular science writer examines the crucial role flowers have played in life's evolutionary scheme as a fundamental energy resource for most of the biosphere.
Language of the Earth is a collection of essays that provides a particular category of and describes the current content in each area of earth science. The book reviews various aspects of geological knowledge, including the characters, motives, and attitudes of certain individuals who have made contributions in this field. Case studies of eyewitness accounts of geological phenomena include the Turtle Mountain slide, the Lisbon earthquake, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the eruption of the Oraefajokull in 1727. The text also discusses some geological controversies such as the footprints in red sandstone, as well as geological philosophies concerning estimates of time since the Earth has existed. The book cites 3000-year old Chinese records chronicling earthquake activity; it also discusses earthquakes and the hypothesis of continental drift. The text then explains the many ways in which geology can relate to the person—in his approach to his work, the personal touch. Geology is shown in terms of its relation to prose, poetry, and sometimes, humor, as in the discovery of the "petrified woman." This book can offer a light and entertaining respite for geologists, historians, students or professors of the earth sciences, and for general readers interested in personal accounts of some geological discoveries.
Recently, scholars of Olmec visual culture have identified symbols for umbilical cords, bundles, and cave-wombs, as well as a significant number of women portrayed on monuments and as figurines. In this groundbreaking study, Carolyn Tate demonstrates that these subjects were part of a major emphasis on gestational imagery in Formative Period Mesoamerica. In Reconsidering Olmec Visual Culture, she identifies the presence of women, human embryos, and fetuses in monuments and portable objects dating from 1400 to 400 BC and originating throughout much of Mesoamerica. This highly original study sheds new light on the prominent roles that women and gestational beings played in Early Formative societies, revealing female shamanic practices, the generative concepts that motivated caching and bundling, and the expression of feminine knowledge in the 260-day cycle and related divinatory and ritual activities. Reconsidering Olmec Visual Culture is the first study that situates the unique hollow babies of Formative Mesoamerica within the context of prominent females and the prevalent imagery of gestation and birth. It is also the first major art historical study of La Venta and the first to identify Mesoamerica's earliest creation narrative. It provides a more nuanced understanding of how later societies, including Teotihuacan and West Mexico, as well as the Maya, either rejected certain Formative Period visual forms, rituals, social roles, and concepts or adopted and transformed them into the enduring themes of Mesoamerican symbol systems.
