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frank_from_france's review
5.0
Beautiful book, I don’t tend to read non fiction but because of how poeticly this was written I was drawn right in
emilystrange123's review
4.0
I like Russell's style- scientific, dramatic, and poetic! I loved learning about flowers, and this book is going to lead to further exploration. Sometimes I didn't quite follow what she was saying because of her writing style.
dandelionfluff's review
4.0
Very interesting information on the secret life of flowers. Definitely opened my mind to the many facets of these fleeting beauties. The writing style can be a bit like a butterfly, flitting to and fro between subjects and focuses, but I do like the author's overall voice. She draws you into the romantic mysteries of the botanical world while still keeping a level head. This is more for a layperson, too, so if you're a professional, you might not gravitate towards this work.
Some information in here can be considered out-of-date, so make sure you follow up with other current scientific peer-reviewed resources.
Some information in here can be considered out-of-date, so make sure you follow up with other current scientific peer-reviewed resources.
sandyd's review against another edition
4.0
This was a rather poetically written short volume on botany - specifically, the botany of flowers. Nice chapters on scent, pollen, trapping insects, classification (a la Linnaeus), evolution, etc.
Here's a fun sentence about pollen that illustrates Russell's style:
"On the very nicest of days, when the air is slightly fresh, when the sun is pleasantly warm, when trouble-some insects have not yet appeared or are already gone, we live and breathe in an effluvia of male sex cells." (p. 93).
However, she's wrong about the pollen found on the Neandertal skeletons in Iraq....it was said in 1975 that it was evidence for burial with flowers (cited in the endnotes), but the rebuttal (from the 90's) showing that the pollen was just in the water and sediment that covered the skeletons never was as well popularized. Just FYI. Just not as cool a story as the flowers, I guess.
Here's a fun sentence about pollen that illustrates Russell's style:
"On the very nicest of days, when the air is slightly fresh, when the sun is pleasantly warm, when trouble-some insects have not yet appeared or are already gone, we live and breathe in an effluvia of male sex cells." (p. 93).
However, she's wrong about the pollen found on the Neandertal skeletons in Iraq....it was said in 1975 that it was evidence for burial with flowers (cited in the endnotes), but the rebuttal (from the 90's) showing that the pollen was just in the water and sediment that covered the skeletons never was as well popularized. Just FYI. Just not as cool a story as the flowers, I guess.
apolasky's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
Very interesting. Reminded me of The Hidden Life of trees. If you liked one, you’ll most likely enjoy the other.
Very interesting. Reminded me of The Hidden Life of trees. If you liked one, you’ll most likely enjoy the other.
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