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by Hope Jahren Library Journal Jahren's first book is a refreshing mix of memoir about her journey as a woman scientist and musings about plants, the central focus of her successful scientific endeavors. What's most refreshing is the author's openness about her relationship and collaboration with research partner Bill. Over the course of 20 years their field treks take them to the North Pole, the back roads of Florida, and Ireland's countryside. Meanwhile they build three labs, including their current one at the University of Hawaii. At times funny and at other points poignant, this work expresses Jahren's passion for paleobiology-her subdiscipline within environmental geology-through her insights into plant life and growth. She skillfully ties this knowledge to her own life stories and successfully conveys the dedication required to build and sustain a research agenda and the requisite lab at any major U.S. research institution. VERDICT This title should be required reading for all budding scientists, especially young women. However, being a scientist is not essential in order to savor Jahren's stories and reflections on living as well as fossil plant life. [See Prepub Alert, 10/26/15.]-Faye Chadwell, Oregon State Univ., Corvallis © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. (c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Book list *Starred Review* While growing up in a cold place with an undemonstrative mother, Jahren found warmth and happiness in her father's laboratory at a Minnesota community college, thus setting the course for her own groundbreaking scientific quest. An award-winning geochemist and geobiologist with a love of language, self-deprecating humor, and valiant candor, Jahren presents an exceptionally compelling and enlightening memoir. Gracefully meshing her struggles as a woman scientist with the marvels of plants, she aligns the risks a sprouting seed takes in an inhospitable world with her entry into the sexist realm of science, and symbiotic plant-pollinator relationships with her crucial collaboration with Bill, a heroically steadfast and self-sacrificing partner in mischief, hard work, and discovery. Jahren recounts their hilariously barbed repartee and crazy, dangerous adventures transforming decrepit spaces into gleaming, humming labs and undertaking daunting field work. Jahren reveals her bouts with bipolar disorder and discloses the intense creativity and effort required for curiosity-driven science, from designing experiments to the infinite patience and dexterity required for lab work to the grueling battle for funding in a system that values products over knowledge. Finally, she matches her findings about how plants thrive and maintain life on Earth with grave concern over our reckless destruction of forests. A botanical variation on Helen Macdonald's best-selling H Is for Hawk (2015), Jahren's forthright, beautifully expressed, and galvanizing chronicle deserves the widest possible readership. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Jahren's dramatic, funny, eye-opening memoir is generating elevated interest backed by a major national promotional campaign, including author appearances.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2016 Booklist From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission. |