Lab Girl

A Memoir

De: Hope Jahren

Narrado por: Hope Jahren

National Book Critics Circle Award winner, Autobiography, 2016.

An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime collaboration, in work and in life; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see and think about the natural world.

Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she's studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book might have been a revelatory treatise on plant life. Lab Girl is that, but it is also so much more. Because in it, Jahren also shares with us her inspiring life story, in prose that takes your breath away.

Lab Girl is a book about work, about love, and about the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren's remarkable stories: about the things she's discovered in her lab as well as how she got there; about her childhood - hours of unfettered play in her father's laboratory; about how she found a sanctuary in science and learned to perform lab work "with both the heart and the hands"; about a brilliant and wounded man named Bill, who became her loyal colleague and best friend; about their adventurous, sometimes rogue research trips, which take them from the Midwest all across the United States and over the Atlantic, from the ever-light skies of the North Pole to tropical Hawaii; and about her constant striving to do and be the best she could, never allowing personal or professional obstacles to cloud her dedication to her work.

Jahren's probing look at plants, her astonishing tenacity of spirit, and her insights on nature enliven every minute of this book. Lab Girl allows us to see with clear eyes the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass, and flower petal and the power within ourselves to face - with bravery and conviction - life's ultimate challenge: discovering who we are.

©2016 Hope Jahren (P)2016 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Some people are great writers, while other people live lives of adventure and importance. Almost no one does both. Hope Jahren does both. She makes me wish I'd been a scientist." (Ann Patchett)

A paradigm-shifting perspective on plant life

Although initially annoyed by the author's somewhat languid reading style, I gradually came to appreciate her authenticity and honesty and--most of all--the way she utterly transformed my view of the natural world (and especially trees). Her memoir is at once a coming of age story about a driven young female scientist battling for relevance in a patriarchal profession, a love story between the protagonist and her best friend and colleague, and a passionate and scientifically precise guide to the "secret lives" of trees and other plant life, which are far more fascinating than I'd been led to believe. Now when I look out my window (as the author invites readers to do early on in the book), what I see is not just trees, but the outward manifestation of hundreds of millions of years of evolution, a struggle for survival on a monumental scale, and unimaginably complex processes, communications, and interactions about which most humans have no clue. I ended up listening to the entire book twice and parts of it multiple times (just so I could remember the astonishing data the author provides on trees).

Wonderful!

This is the best book I have read in at least a decade. The juxtaposition of life and science is perfect. The story is honest and moving, educational and entertaining. The author's reading of her own book is so tenderly performed that I was filled with love and gratitude and an ever-growing appreciation for the plant life and quirky people whose world we share.

Necessary read for any PhD working through academia!!

This resonates with me in so many ways!!! I'm not a geobiologist at a large research university, but a biochemist at a small liberal arts college and still felt so many points of connection. Thank you Prof Jahren for sharing your story!!

Could not listen to the narrator.

A wonderful story but I'll have to buy the book. The voice is awful! I had to return the audible version

Beautifully written, beautifully performed

Would you consider the audio edition of Lab Girl to be better than the print version?

The audio version allows me to know the author and the depth of her investment in the work. I didn't have the time to read the book before it was due at the library. I'm so glad I got the audiobook. I'm an actor with a great admiration for audiobook performers, some of whose stage work I've admired immensely. I find audiobook narration a very special skill that not all actors can master. I'm also a lit major and horticulturist--I love books, theatre and plants. Dr. Jahren has moved me in all those areas. She writes magnificently with a clarity that makes plant science accessible and vital; she performs with generosity, something I think requires great artistic courage. Brava! I tell everyone who loves plants or science or good writing or personal journeys to read this book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Lab Girl?

The pregnancy-birth experience

Which scene was your favorite?

Hard to think of the book in scenes. Maybe the was it goulash they finally ate on a field trip at 3 a.m.My favorites are Dr. Jahren's unique and fresh writing choices and the description of plant phenomena

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Toward the end when she writes what she would have said to Bill about his grief over losing his dad. Just her whole devotion to that very deep kinship.

Any additional comments?

I owe her a fan letter. I've rarely been as moved as I have by this book. I'd follow her as a writer or a scientist.She quoted another woman, a quote I've shared since listening to the book: "Life and love are both like butter: they don't keep and have to be made fresh each day."

Five out of five scientists recommend this book

Any additional comments?

Sorry, I just made that up. Many scientists have difficulty writing in a way that engages the non science public. Years of writing peer reviewed papers for scientific journals makes them forget other people don't talk like that. Hope Jahren, a phenomenal scientist, is the exception to the rule. Her writing is exquisite. As much as I love Neil de Grasse Tyson, and I do, he could learn a thing or two from Hope, about conveying the magic of science to the lay public using almost no scientific jargon.

You will come away from this book never again being able to think of trees, and plants in general, in the same way. Her passion, her intelligence, her stunning skill as a writer, comes thru on every page. And her self narration is perfect. You can hear her voice almost crack in the difficult emotional parts, you can hear her passion for her work in every word.

The relationship she has over years and years with her "lab partner" makes for one of the most fascinating characterizations of a real person ever put on paper since John Steinbeck wrote about his friend Ed Ricketts, I believe in the Intro to the book Sea of Cortez.

There are a few difficult passages about Hope's health issues. But mostly this book will take you along on her journey from hanging out in the lab with her dad, to her years trying to rise in a male dominated field, to her scientific breakthroughs and beyond. Just a extraordinary, well written book, I loved it!

Great Story

Hope catalogues her struggles and achievements through life with her dear friend Bill. Listening to her share the story is wonderfully delightful. I can relate to many of her plights personally. This is a wonderful book to listen to and reflect on what matters in life.

A Surprise of the grandest kind

When I begin a book, I have expectations of it. if it's a good book, I forget what the expectations were. if it's a great book, it affects my expectations of the books I will read in the future. Hope's humanity and curiosity make this a life-changing book.

Loved it!

I am not into science. Not particularly interested in trees or plant life but something about this book, the authors voice and and the flow of the story had me hooked. I really enjoyed it and all the things I learned and felt while listening.

One to Savor

A 5 star accomplishment for Hope Jahren with a heartfelt narration. Her writing is filled with science, emotion, bravery, and vulnerability. It is a book to read slowly, one chapter at a time, as if it were a series of short stories. The writing is excellent and Jahren's courage to share the innermost details of her life is admirable.