Remarkable Plants That Shape Our World

About the Author Helen Bynum is a historian of science and medicine and also has a particular interest in gardening and plants and their importance in human culture and society. Together with her husband William Bynum she has written or edited numerous books, including Great Discoveries in Medicine and Remarkable Plants. Product Description Plants are truly remarkable: even with all our modern technological prowess they still feed, clothe and shelter us, help transport us and can intoxicate and cure us. Helen and William Bynum are expert guides to the rich histories, significance and uses of over 80 key plants in 69 entries, revealing our relationship with them, both utilitarian and aesthetic, and their multiple benefits and cultural associations. Organized thematically, eight sections cover all aspects of our interaction with plants – starting with those crops that were fundamental to the development of cultures and civilizations, and those that enliven our diet beyond the basics, such as saffron and chilli peppers. Other sections look at plants that have helped to create our material world, as well as those that are used medicinally or are revered and adored for symbolic reasons, including the tulip, the rose and the lotus. For anyone interested in the natural world and the extraordinary diversity of flora around us, this elegantly illustrated and covetable book, published in association with the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, will be an inspiration and a delight. Review 'This beautifully illustrated, insightful and well-pitched book will make the ideal gift for plant-obsessed readers' - The English Garden'With 205 exquisite illustrations, this book is beautiful … From rice to rhubarb and aloe to indigo, these plants make life work. And this book is one you should buy' - The Field'An accessible introduction to the field of economic botany … stands as a rewarding artefact in its own right, emanating the authors’ quintessentially human passion for plants and their uses' - Gardens Illustrated'The book is blessed with the fine design and production values we expect from this publisher' - Daily Telegraph Book Description A glorious celebration of the beauty, diversity, importance and sheer wonder of the most remarkable plants that shape our world, with exquisite illustrations from the incomparable collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew From the Back Cover ?Plants are truly remarkable: even with all our modern technological prowess they still feed, clothe and shelter us, help transport us and can intoxicate and cure us. Helen and William Bynum are expert guides to the rich histories, significance and uses of over 80 key plants in 69 entries, revealing our relationship with them, both utilitarian and aesthetic, and their multiple benefits and cultural associations. Organized thematically, eight sections cover all aspects of our interaction with plants starting with those crops that were fundamental to the development of cultures and civilizations, and those that enliven our diet beyond the basics, such as saffron and chilli peppers. Other sections look at plants that have helped to create our material world, as well as those that are used medicinally or are revered and adored for symbolic reasons, including the tulip, the rose and the lotus. For anyone interested in the natural world and the extraordinary diversity of flora around us, this elegantly illustrated and covetable book, published in association with the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, will be an inspiration and a delight.