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Botany of Desire

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ryerro
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The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World is a 2001 nonfiction book by journalist Michael Pollan. This work explores the nature of domesticated plants from the dual perspective of humans and the plants themselves. Pollan presents case studies that mirror four types of human desires that are reflected in the way that we selectively grow, breed, and genetically engineer our plants. The apple reflects the desire of sweetness, the tulip beauty, marijuana intoxication, and the potato control.

  
Pollan narrates his own experience with each of the plants, which he then intertwines with an exploration into their social history. Each section presents an element of human domestication, or the "human bumblebee" as Pollan calls us. The stories range from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan's first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam to the paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes.

WATCH VIDEO

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29th October 2009 20:37 p.m.
mrostron
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Absolutely brilliant!  Mr Pollan is "pollanating" our minds. A natural expansion of the Gaia hypothesis is some ways.   Everyone should watch this.  Thanks for the link!

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30th October 2009 05:55 a.m.
Categories > World News, Events, Politics, and Perspectives.
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