Plant Evolution

“You'll root for these creatures and their survival. A marvelous narration.”—Booklist “Paleontologist Riley Black’s vivid writing and Wren Mack’s wonderstruck narration make these vignettes of prehistoric life on Earth fascinating listening.”—AudioFile Winner, A Friend of Darwin...

Weaving together herbal and medical traditions from around the world into a singular cohesive model, this groundbreaking book guides herbal practitioners to a comprehensive understanding of the practice and philosophy of healing with herbs. Sajah Popham presents an innovative approach to...

Scratch beneath the surface of a coffee bean, a red pepper flake, a poppy seed, a mold spore, a foxglove leaf, a magic-mushroom cap, a marijuana bud, or an apple seed, and we find a bevy of strange chemicals. We use these to greet our days (caffeine), titillate our tongues (capsaicin), recover from surgery (opioids), cure infections (penicillin), mend our hearts (digoxin), bend our minds (psilocybin), calm our nerves (CBD), and even kill our enemies (cyanide). But why do plants and fungi produce such chemicals? And how did we come to use and abuse some of them?

Are humans unwitting partners in evolution with psychedelic plants? Darwin’s Pharmacy shows they are by weaving the evolutionary theory of sexual selection and the study of rhetoric together with the science and literature of psychedelic drugs. Long suppressed as components of the human tool kit, psychedelic plants can be usefully modeled as “eloquence adjuncts” that intensify a crucial component of sexual selection in humans: discourse.

Decades of research document plants' impressive abilities: they communicate with one another, manipulate other species, and move in sophisticated ways. Lesser known, however, is the new evidence that plants may actually be sentient. Although plants may not have brains, their microscopic commerce exposes a system not unlike the neuronal networks running through our own bodies. Paco Calvo offers an entirely new perspective on plant biology. In Planta Sapiens, he shows for the first time how we can use tools developed in animal cognition studies in a quest to deeply understand plant intelligence.

A guide to the benefits and challenges of the use of cannabis in spiritual practice Includes chapters by 18 authoritative and influential voices of the modern cannabis movement, including Kathleen Harrison, Joan Bello, Hamilton Souther, Steven Hager, Chris Bennett, Dee Dussault, Jeremy Wolff...

Terence McKenna hypothesizes that as the North African jungles receded, giving way to savannas and grasslands near the end of the most recent ice age, a branch of our arboreal primate ancestors left the forest canopy and began living in the open areas beyond. There they experimented with new varieties of foods as they adapted, physically and mentally, to the environment. Among the new foods found in this environment were psilocybin-containing mushrooms.

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...

""I read this book... it worked. My autoimmune disease is gone and I'm 37 pounds lighter in my pleather."" —Kelly Clarkson Most of us have heard of gluten—a protein found in wheat that causes widespread inflammation in the body. Americans spend billions of dollars on gluten-free diets in an...

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WITH OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE A “brilliant [and] entrancing” (The Guardian) journey into the hidden lives of fungi—the great connectors of the living world—and their astonishing and intimate roles in human life, with the power to heal our...

Bloomsbury presents Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love by Elizabeth A. Johnson, read by Katherine Fenton For millennia plant and animal species have received little sustained attention as subjects of Christian theology and ethics in their own right. Focused on the human dilemma of sin...

Ever wonder if plants sleep or why their leaves are shaped a certain way? The inner workings of the plants you love are revealed and celebrated in this guide by botany expert Dr. Scott Zona. A Gardener’s Guide to Botany is not just another book on how to grow plants. Instead, it’s a...

Bloomsbury presents Life Changing written and read by Helen Pilcher. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING ON GLOBAL CONSERVATION 'Pilcher is both very funny and very, very clever.' Gillian Burke 'Richly entertaining throughout.' Sunday Times For the last three billion years or so...

"In this thought-provoking, handsomely illustrated book, Italian neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso considers the fundamental differences between plants and animals and challenges our assumptions about which is the ‘higher’ form of life.” —The Wall Street Journal “Fascinating…full of...

"Listening to Godfrey-Smith's exploration of animal consciousness will rattle every nook and cranny of your brain with an onslaught of interesting questions...the author leaves listeners with a radical new perspective." —AudioFile on Metazoa This program is read by the author. The bestselling...

In this provocative reimagining of what it is to be a plant, an evolutionary biologist draws on a lifetime of research to offer a beguiling behind-the-scenes perspective on how plants really work—and how we truly depend on leaves for our survival. For readers of Entangled Life and An Immense...

From a New York Times bestselling author, a wildlife ecology expert and environmental advocate provides readers with the next step in their ecological journey. In How Can I Help?, Tallamy tackles the questions commonly asked at his popular lectures and shares compelling and actionable answers...

"There's joy in self-described "satellite nerd" James Bridle's British-accented voice as he narrates this audiobook about consciousness and the search for planetary intelligence." - AudioFile Magazine This audiobook is read by the author. Artist, technologist, and philosopher James Bridle’s...

Unlock the secrets of nature’s artistry with Growing Innovation, an illuminating journey into the world of horticultural plant breeding. This captivating eBook is your comprehensive guide, designed for both the curious gardener and the serious scientist, leading you from the basics of plant genetics to the forefront of biotechnological advancements. Begin with an exploration of the art and science of plant breeding, tracing its rich history and foundational principles. Delve into the intricate world of plant DNA and genetics to understand the building blocks of our botanical companions. ...

An easy and quick guide to effective Lectin-free diet! This diet will help you keep your weight in check, and also ward off autoimmune disorders and most allergies. In this cookbook you can find surprising truth about meals that have long been regarded as healthy. Lectins are plant proteins. They have various functions, but can have adverse effects such as inflammation, leaky gut, and nausea, when consumed in the foods we eat. Lectins are in vegetables, legumes, seeds and dairy products, and the most likely in foods that are consumed raw. A lectin-free diet is just that, foods without the ...