The Light Eaters

How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth

De: Zoë Schlanger

Narrado por: Zoë Schlanger

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

An Audible Best Nonfiction Listen of 2024

TIME’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 • A Best Book of the Year: Barnes & Noble and Publishers Weekly • An Amazon Best Nonfiction Book of the Year

“A masterpiece of science writing.” –Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass

“Mesmerizing, world-expanding, and achingly beautiful.” –Ed Yong, author of An Immense World

“Rich, vital, and full of surprises. Read it!” –Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Under a White Sky and The Sixth Extinction

“A brilliant must-read. This book shook and changed me.” –David George Haskell, author of Sounds Wild and Broken, The Songs of Trees, and The Forest Unseen

Award-winning Atlantic staff writer Zoë Schlanger delivers a groundbreaking work of popular science that probes the hidden world of the plant kingdom, “destabilizing not just how we see the green things of the world but also our place in the hierarchy of beings, and maybe the notion of that hierarchy itself.” (The New Yorker)

It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In recent years, scientists have learned about their ability to communicate, recognize their kin and behave socially, hear sounds, morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings, store useful memories that inform their life cycle, and trick animals into behaving to their benefit, to name just a few remarkable talents.

The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.

What can we learn about life on Earth from the living things that thrive, adapt, consume, and accommodate simultaneously? More important, what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research, Schlanger spotlights the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject, offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing discoveries and how they influence our understanding of what a plant is.

We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for—if at all? An eye-opening and informative look at the ecosystem we live in, this book challenges us to rethink the role of plants—and our own place—in the natural world.

©2024 Zoë Schlanger (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

The caring authenticity of the author

Thank you for exploring the lives of the plant world. Your research is fascinating and inspiring.

Staggering, beautiful, engrossing

An absolutely fantastic exploration of the world. A must-read for all humans. Beautifully written, wisely considered, and humanely told.

Incredible insight into the plant world

Every page was a new insight. I love this book and hope everyone reads it. it will redefine your view of plants and the position of humans in the natural world.

I learned to appreciate plants more

This read like a science textbook, and I was happy to find it was on audible. Interesting but laborious to read.

Education blended with pleasure

What a beautiful well thought out book. This book put in to words what I have felt all my life.

Fascinating

This book offers a fascinating look at plant intelligence. It is immensely readable and thought provoking

For all the plant nerds out there.

Facts are amazing and written to capture interest. Makes one consider and reflect all the things we think we know about plants.

Makes You Question Everything You Think About Plants

This is a very approachable book on plants agency. It may even make you wonder if vegans are no better than carnivores when it comes to the consumption of “beings” in order for our species to survive.

I’ll start by saying I recommend this book but caution readers to be prepared for what happens when a journalist is freed from deadlines, word counts and proper editing. I’d estimate this topic either could have been covered in half the number of words or in much greater depth, if only she’d removed herself (been less selfish of the topic) from the book. There is also the misconception that academic papers are written in passive voice only on this topic—which is incorrect. All academic papers (at least the well written ones for peer review) are written this way. It is not limited to biological science. This is just one example showing the author is not a scientist.

What does come through is a very human, compassionate and relatable message about the plant life that shares our planet and how plants have evolved into extremely complex beings who strive to survive. I also appreciate that there is no political agenda, simply a questioning of everyone’s assumptions about life on earth. In short, overlong and a bit digressive but entertaining and interesting approach to this topic.

Glorious

Lovely, glorious science writing on an intriguing topic, written passionately, poetically yet extremely erudite in its dealings with scientific concepts and explanations. A masterpiece!

Science is awesome

Mind blowing, expansive, so very necessary. There is so much in here. I can hardly wait to listen to it again.