Plants, Man and Life

Edgar Anderson

Published by University of California Press 2023

Plants, Man and Life

Edgar Anderson

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520312548

Overview
Contents

About this book

What's the difference between wild and cultivated plants? Why has the study of cultivated plants been neglected, and why is so little known about the common plants that have endured since ancient times? This innovative ecological survey examines the long history of human and plant interactions. Author Edgar Anderson, a distinguished botanist, analyzes suggestive pieces of evidence in a reader-friendly narrative that recounts the origins and evolution of plant life with all the intrigue of a good detective story. In tracing the development of human influence on plant life, Anderson focuses particularly on crops, which he reveals as having started out as weeds--hybrids 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 and the American sunflower to backyard landscapes in developing countries, where fruit trees, flowers, vines, and vegetables mingle with the sources for fibers, poisons, narcotics, and other drugs.

Author / Editor information

Anderson Edgar :

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Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	XIII
I. Man and His Transported Landscapes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
II. The History of Weeds — A Detective Story Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	16
III. The Greater Paradox Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
IV. The Clue from the Root Tips Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
V. The Clue from Diversity, or Science and the Bureaucrats Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
VI. How to Measure an Avocado Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
VII. Budgets vs. Scholarship Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
VIII. Uneconomic Botany Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
IX. Dump Heaps and the Origin of Agriculture Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
X. A Roster of Our Most Important Crop Plants and Their Probable Origins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
XI. Sunflowers — The One Native American Crop Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	186
XII. Adventures in Chaos Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
Suggested Readings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Edition: 2nd printing, Reprint 2020
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 266
Illustrations
- Other: With Illustrations
Keywords: applied ecology; biology; botany; development; environmental science; ethnology; evolution; flow; genetics; geography; history of biology; history of life sciences; landscapes; life sciences; plant sciences; plants; sources

eBook

Published: September 23, 2020
ISBN: 9780520312548