Plants, Man And Life

A distinguished botanist examines the long history of human and plant interactions in this innovative ecological survey. Author Edgar Anderson analyzes suggestive pieces of evidence in a reader-friendly narrative that recounts the origins and evolution of plant life with all the panache of a good detective story. In tracing the development of human influence on plant life, Anderson focuses particularly crops, which he reveals as having started out as weeds 7hybrids that sprang up from the dump heaps and gardens of early humans. His investigation of the tangled and continuing history of weeds and cultivated plants ranges from autumnal European greens to the American sunflower and to backyard landscapes in developing countries. 16 black-and-white illustrations. 272pp. 53/8 x 81/2.Anderson, Edgar is the author of 'Plants, Man And Life ', published 2005 under ISBN 9780486441931 and ISBN 0486441938.