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The Triumph of Seeds
- How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
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The Triumph of Seeds
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Publisher's summary
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat. In nature and in culture, seeds are fundamental - objects of beauty, evolutionary wonder, and simple fascination. How many times has a child dropped the winged pip of a maple, marveling as it spirals its way down to the ground, or relished the way a gust of wind(or a stout breath) can send a dandelion’s feathery flotilla skyward? Yet despite their importance, seeds are often seen as a commonplace, their extraordinary natural and human histories overlooked. Thanks to Thor Hanson and this stunning new book, they can be overlooked no more.
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 488
In Mycophilia, accomplished food writer and cookbook author Eugenia Bone examines the role of fungi as exotic delicacy, curative, poison, and hallucinogen, and ultimately discovers that a greater understanding of fungi is key to facing many challenges of the 21st century.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Absolutely awful, insufferable, racist author
- By Rs 🦇 on 11-25-19
By: Eugenia Bone
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The Fruit Hunters
- A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession
- By: Adam Leith Gollner
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4 out of 5 stars 58
Tasty, lethal, hallucinogenic, and medicinal - fruits have led nations into wars, fueled dictatorships, and even lured us into new worlds. Adam Leith Gollner weaves business, science, and travel into a riveting narrative about one of the earth's most desired foods.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting world...
- By Henry Scalfo on 07-16-08
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The Tree
- A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live, and Why They Matter
- By: Colin Tudge
- Narrated by: Enn Reitel
- Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4 out of 5 stars 80
There are redwoods in California that were ancient by the time Columbus first landed and pines still alive that germinated around the time humans invented writing. There are Douglas firs as tall as skyscrapers and a banyan tree in Calcutta as big as a football field. From the tallest to the smallest, trees inspire wonder in all of us, and in The Tree, Colin Tudge travels around the world - throughout the United States, the Costa Rican rain forest, Panama and Brazil, India, New Zealand, China, and most of Europe - bringing to life stories and facts about the trees around us.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not the book described in the Audible summary
- By E. Miller on 04-28-17
By: Colin Tudge
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The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 469
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 378
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
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The Cabaret of Plants
- Forty Thousand Years of Plant Life and the Human Imagination
- By: Richard Mabey
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4 out of 5 stars 87
A rich, sweeping, and compelling work of botanical history, The Cabaret of Plants explores dozens of plant species that for millennia have challenged our imaginations, awoken our wonder, and upturned our ideas about history, science, beauty, and belief. Going back to the beginnings of human history, Richard Mabey shows how flowers, trees, and plants have been central to human experience not just as sources of food and medicine but as objects of worship, actors in creation myths, and symbols of war and peace, life and death.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Can't wait to listen to again!
- By hyacinthgirl on 12-27-16
By: Richard Mabey
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The Beekeeper's Lament
- How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America
- By: Hannah Nordhaus
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 856
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 762
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 764
Award-winning journalist Hannah Nordhaus tells the remarkable story of John Miller, one of America's foremost migratory beekeepers, and the myriad and mysterious epidemics threatening American honeybee populations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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From a beekeeper
- By Argos on 06-14-17
By: Hannah Nordhaus
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The Soil Will Save Us
- How Scientists, Farmers, and Ranchers Are Tending the Soil to Reverse Global Warming
- By: Kristin Ohlson
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 679
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 601
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 595
In The Soil Will Save Us, journalist and bestselling author Kristin Ohlson makes an elegantly argued, passionate case for "our great green hope"—a way in which we can not only heal the land but also turn atmospheric carbon into beneficial soil carbon—and potentially reverse global warming. Her discoveries and vivid storytelling will revolutionize the way we think about our food, our landscapes, our plants, and our relationship to Earth.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Rambling, mile wide, inch deep treatment of a subject
- By Charles Phillips on 10-17-18
By: Kristin Ohlson
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Gods, Wasps and Stranglers
- The Secret History and Redemptive Future of Fig Trees
- By: Mike Shanahan
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
They are trees of life and trees of knowledge. They are wish-fulfillers, rain forest royalty, more precious than gold. They are the fig trees, and they have affected humanity in profound but little-known ways. Gods, Wasps and Stranglers tells their amazing story. Fig trees fed our prehuman ancestors, influenced diverse cultures, and played key roles in the dawn of civilization.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Incredible research in a wonderful story
- By Alonsa Guevara on 11-24-22
By: Mike Shanahan
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The Reason for Flowers
- Their History, Culture, Biology, and How They Change Our Lives
- By: Stephen Buchmann
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4 out of 5 stars 45
Flowers, and the fruits that follow, feed, clothe, sustain, and inspire all humanity. Flowers are used to celebrate all-important occasions, to express love, and are also the basis of global industries. Americans buy 10 million flowers a day, and perfumes are a worldwide industry worth $30 billion annually. Stephen Buchmann takes us along on an exploratory journey of the roles flowers play in the production of our foods, spices, medicines, and perfumes while simultaneously bringing joy and health.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Only for the Flower Lover
- By Anonymous User on 01-19-16
By: Stephen Buchmann
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The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,403
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,496
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,458
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
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The Book of General Ignorance
- By: John Mitchinson, John Lloyd
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 428
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 322
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 322
Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and flawed facts finally get the heave-ho in this humorous, downright humiliating book of reeducation based on the phenomenal British best seller. Challenging what most of us assume to be verifiable truths in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more, The Book of General Ignorance is a witty “gotcha” compendium of how little we actually know about anything. It’ll have you scratching your head wondering why we even bother to go to school.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting.
- By A. Hawkbird on 12-07-08
By: John Mitchinson, and others
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Biomimicry
- Innovation Inspired by Nature
- By: Janine M. Benyus
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 44
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Biomimicry is rapidly transforming life on earth. Biomimics study nature's most successful ideas over the past 3.5 million years, and adapt them for human use. The results are revolutionizing how materials are invented and how we compute, heal ourselves, repair the environment, and feed the world. Janine Benyus takes listeners into the lab and in the field with maverick thinkers as they: discover miracle drugs by watching what chimps eat when they're sick; learn how to create by watching spiders weave fibers; and many more examples.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Dated but good
- By stephen taylor on 09-05-21
By: Janine M. Benyus
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Silent Earth
- Averting the Insect Apocalypse
- By: Dave Goulson
- Narrated by: Dave Goulson
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 30
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story5 out of 5 stars 25
In the tradition of Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking environmental classic Silent Spring, an award-winning entomologist and conservationist explains the importance of insects to our survival and offers a clarion call to avoid a looming ecological disaster of our own making.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Important book for all
- By Wren Jen on 03-24-24
By: Dave Goulson
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Farmacology
- Total Health from the Ground Up
- By: Daphne Miller MD
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 362
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 316
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Story5 out of 5 stars 313
Can urban farms reduce neighborhood crime? These may not sound like typical questions for a family physician to consider, but in Farmacology, Daphne Miller, MD, ventures out of her medical office and travels to seven innovative family farms around the country on a quest to discover the hidden connections between how we care for our bodies and how we grow our food. Miller also seeks out the perspectives of noted biomedical scientists and artfully weaves in their research, along with stories from her own practice. Farmacology offers a profound new approach to healing.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Crystals and all - great book
- By Topherwayne on 02-22-20
By: Daphne Miller MD
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Banana
- The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
- By: Dan Koeppel
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 135
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 115
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 113
Banana combines a pop-science journey around the globe, a fascinating tale of an iconic American business enterprise, and a look into the alternately tragic and hilarious banana subculture (one does exist) - ultimately taking us to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world's most beloved fruit.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very Good Book - History, Science, and Economics
- By Jose on 11-08-17
By: Dan Koeppel
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The Wonder of Birds
- What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
- By: Jim Robbins
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Stories about birds with something for everyone
- By D on 07-24-17
By: Jim Robbins
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Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?
- The Epic Saga of the Bird That Powers Civilization
- By: Andrew Lawler
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 163
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Story4 out of 5 stars 145
From ancient empires to modern economics, veteran journalist Andrew Lawler delivers a sweeping history of the animal that has been most crucial to the spread of civilization across the globe: the chicken. Queen Victoria was obsessed with it. Socrates' last words were about it. Charles Darwin and Louis Pasteur made their scientific breakthroughs using it. Catholic popes, African shamans, Chinese philosophers, and Muslim mystics praised it.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Never imagined the volume of bird trivia
- By Neuron on 11-04-18
By: Andrew Lawler
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Buzz
- The Nature and Necessity of Bees
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Brant Pope
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
Bees are like oxygen: ubiquitous, essential, and, for the most part, unseen. While we might overlook them, they lie at the heart of relationships that bind the human and natural worlds. In Buzz, the beloved Thor Hanson takes us on a journey that begins 125 million years ago, when a wasp first dared to feed pollen to its young. From honeybees and bumbles to lesser-known diggers, miners, leafcutters, and masons, bees have long been central to our harvests, our mythologies, and our very existence. They've given us sweetness and light, the beauty of flowers, and as much as a third of the foodstuffs we eat. And, alarmingly, they are at risk of disappearing.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Not just honeybees!
- By Joshua R. Jacobs on 11-28-18
By: Thor Hanson
