The Botany of Desire
A Plant's-Eye View of the World
Ranked #1 in Botany, Ranked #1 in Horticulture — see more rankings.
Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers’ genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan... more
Reviews and Recommendations
We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Botany of Desire from the world's leading experts.
David George Haskell Through the stories of four familiar plant species–apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes–he demolishes the erroneous impression that we’re in charge. (Source)
Kenneth Cox You can’t fail to be fascinated by this exposition of the motivations of plants to cuddle up to humans. One of several excellent Michael Pollan books, it’s a fun read. (Source)
Rankings by Category
The Botany of Desire is ranked in the following categories:
- #5 in Agriculture
- #22 in Biology
- #99 in Documentaries
- #42 in Earth Science
- #17 in Ecology
- #21 in Environment
- #12 in Environmental Science
- #13 in Environmental Studies
- #47 in Environmentalism
- #69 in Evolution
- #55 in Farming
- #30 in Flower
- #11 in Food
- #17 in Food Science
- #8 in Forestry
- #7 in Gardening
- #78 in Genetics
- #3 in Healthy Cooking
- #12 in Landscape
- #17 in Nature
- #44 in Nutrition
- #3 in Plant
- #73 in Science
- #50 in Science and Math
- #39 in Sustainability
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