Worth checking out from your local library. Apples, for sweetness; tulips, for beauty; marijuana, for pleasure; and, potatoes, for sustenance. Summary of chapter one: apples . The Botany of Desire: Reflections on Apple History and Biodiversity 16 02 2010 As part of my current obsession with plants, I watched the documentary The Botany of Desire . The first chapter, How Sweet, talks about apples and their history within the United States. We give ourselves altogether too much credit in our dealings with other species. The only complaint I have about The Botany Of Desire is that the title is misleading. They’re our, and countless other organism’s, primary source of carbon and energy. To migrate to all four corners of the globe and spread its genes, it had to appeal to mammals as a sweet food source. He really transports you to whatever location he’s talking about, which makes learning the facts about the story he’s telling much easier, I find. Reflecting the theme of the title, there are four human desires that are associated with these plants: sweetness, beauty, … He finds that Chapman’s trees were important sources of seeds, which were used not to grow fruit for consumption but for making cider. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. I think that Pollan may have started slipping away from the “plant’s perspective” when he got all caught up in the life of Johnny Appleseed. This chapter on the apple would have kept me interested and I would have read through it non-stop, were it not for the story on John Chapman, or “Johnny Appleseed”. Photo credit, Brian R Gantick/Monell Chemical Senses Center Many herbal plants can warn each other chemically when predatory herbivores are nearby. The potato, by fulfilling our desire for mastery, the control over surrounding, so that we can nourish ourselves has gotten itself out of South America and extended its range far beyond where it was long time ago. As a result of this, I guess animals could learn to associate things that are ‘good’, i.e. Academic year. The apple, tulip, cannabis and the potato have all been integral to the human tale and have influenced history, economics, politics, religion and technology and raised debate over genetically modified food. Chapter one in The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, Desire: Sweetness, The Apple. Well I think we basically run on sugars. The potato was also a godsend for the Irish who were unable to grow much of anything. Exploring technology, PC gaming, the web, the world and the possible future – mixed with a tasteful dash of humour. According to The Botany of Desire, the potato represents our desire to control nature and cultivate a staple food source. Attempts to prevent another potato famine has led several farmers to genetically modify their potatoes. Pollan traces the travels of John Chapman, a.k.a. Botany of Desire is a documentary by PBS which discusses human interaction with plants. In the second part of her conversation with Michael Pollan, author of “The Botany of Desire,” NPR’s Ketzel Levine(ph) explores the apple’s American evolution. From an early age we learn that bitter plants are often poisonous while sweet ones are calorie-rich and therefore good for us. p. 3-58. Change this sentence and title from admin Theme option page. I do think it is important to always keep that in mind when reading this book. Change ). The sunflower is able to extract radioactivity from water. It changed the course of European­ history and led to a population­ boom. Nice article Galen! I figure that one of Michael Pollan’s strongest skills as a writer is his use of imagery. The Botany Of Desire Review. The Botany of Desire: The Apple Important Terms & Concepts Define or describe the following. If anyone is interested in a decent story regarding Johnny Appleseed and cider/apples in America, the first chapter of Michael Pollan's book The Botany of Desire is worth a read. Tags: BiochemistryBiologyBiolological evolutionBotanyBotany of DesireBotany of Desire SummarygeneticsMichael PollannatureNew WorldPlantsThe AppleThe Botany of DesireThe Great FamineThe Potato. – Michael Pollan, The Botany of Desire Figure 1: Ten varieties of apples that vary in sweetness. Why does pop music focus so much on desire? The apple is a pome (fleshy) fruit, in which the ripened ovary and surrounding tissue both become fleshy and edible. Directed by Michael Schwarz, Edward Gray. Regular laughter and escapism essential. WITNESS THIS © 2020. The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of 297 pages and is available in Paperback format. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. I wonder if he came up with that on the spot. KETZEL LEVINE reporting: In his rural Connecticut kitchen, under lights by the window, Michael Pollan is growing Malus domestica, the original mother of all apples. Apple, (Malus domestica), fruit of the domesticated tree Malus domestica (family Rosaceae), one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. Free download or read online The Botany of Desire: A Plants-Eye View of the World pdf (ePUB) book. Being able to taste sweetness is part of this ability, having the desire for sweetness, or the drive to search for sugar-rich food, is another part. That ‘upside down’ perspective on the stories he tells about the history of some plants really magnifies and completes the experience of reading this book. This is a very educational story about the second most popular fruit in the world. Random House. Michael Pollan, a professor of journalism and a student of food, presents the history of four plants, each of which found a way to make itself essential to humans, thus ensuring widespread propagation. The study of each of these plants reveals that plants have actually used humans and catered to their desires in order to spread and grow. In animals first trait selected by humans was behavior. The apple originated in the forests of Central Asia and traveled across the Silk Road to the far edges of Europe. Based on Michael Pollan's bestseller, this intriguing PBS documentary examines the ways that humans rely on (and relate to) four key plants: the apple, potato, tulip, and marijuana. With Frances McDormand, Michael Pollan. This is an excerpt from the 'The Botany of Desire', a two-hour PBS documentary based on the best-selling book by Michael Pollan. And the apple, by satisfying our appetite for sweetness, begins in the woods of Kazakhstan and is now the worldwide fruit. Another thing about Pollan’s writing that I find quite amazing is his skill in descriptive writing and stringing together awesome adjectives into a powerful description of something. It even influenced artists of the Renaissance to imagine the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden as being an apple. Galen (name), meaning: "Curious One". This chapter is about the desire of sweetness and the fruit that supplies it: the apple. ... and Could it be that sweetness is the prototype of all desire? The main characters of this non fiction, science story are , . things that increase fitness, with sweetness – the desire for some things like beauty (the tulip in the Botany of Desire),  and even intoxication (marijuana) and control (potato), which are ideally supposed to be ‘good’,  could be based on the desire for sweetness. Bird Predators for Controlling Pest Birds in Vineyards, The effects of partial harvesting of forests on birds – article summary. Apples=SweetnessTulips=Beauty 4 Bertolino-Botany of Desire-Mosaic 852 5. However, the demand today for a certain kind of McDonald’s potato chip has resulted in farmers once again growing mostly just one kind of elongated potato. Why may the trait of ( Log Out /  From an evolutionary point of view, plants are just as advanced as humans. Pace University. Pollan early on in the chapter refers to his main theme of the book which is the co-evolution of people and plants and how “plants and people use each other” (p. 4). several types of apples, a non-sweet plant (potato) and a popular, sugar-sweetened soft drink. Where the apple fit into all this is still interesting though. University. A lover of language, human ingenuity and the forces of the universe. Answer: Apples were found in the forests in central Asia. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan argues that the answer lies at the heart of the intimately reciprocal relationship between people and plants. This was until a fungus caused the great potato famine in the 19th century — killing over a million people. Course. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan argues that the answer lies at the heart of the intimately reciprocal relationship between people and plants. ( Log Out /  Couldnt agree more that plants are underappreciated… Sounds like an interesting read. This is a very educational story about the second most popular fruit in the world. Botany of Desire Ch. Michael Pollan. These tend to be very bitter and New World apples were primarily used to make hard cider, which put rural America into a great binge. Time and time again nature proves that it is stronger than any of our designs as we constantly try to control it. From an early age we learn that bitter plants are often poisonous while sweet ones are calorie-rich and therefore good for us. In his burlap coffee sack and a pot for a hat. Botany of Desire first begins by describing how smart an apple truly is! The first chapter is about the apple, which has long appealed to the human desire for sweetness. the story is interesting no doubt, but what Pollan wrote about his search for the true story of this charismatic hippy dude who made a living by planting and selling apple trees kind of dragged on. The Botany of Desire – Michael Pollan – PBS (2009) Domestication is a defining feature of recent human evolution. This brought the apple to the New World. It then goes into the story of Johnny Appleseed or John Chappman. One of my favourite examples is his description of the quintessential apple: “[a] blemish-free plastic-red saccharine orb” (p. 7). See u around :). Johnny Appleseed, and seeks to separate truth from myth. Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire tells the story of four familiar plants—the apple, the tulip, the marijuana plant, and the potato—and the human desires that link their destinies to our own. There are four main chapters of the documentary: How Sweet, Beauty, Cannabis, and Potato. Pollan presents case studies that mirror four types of human desires that are reflected in the way that we selectively grow, breed, and genetically engineer our plants. The Botany of Desire A Plant's-Eye View of the World This edition published in May 28, 2002 by Random House Trade Paperbacks in New York. The apple first sprouted into existence in Kazakhstan.
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