The Botany of Desire
Flowers. Trees. Plants. We've always thought that we controlled them. But what if, in fact, they have been shaping us?
Using this provocative question as a jumping off point, The Botany of Desire, a two-hour PBS documentary based on
the best-selling book by Michael Pollan, takes us on an eye-opening exploration of our relationship with the plant world - seen
from the plants' point of view.
Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: to make their honey, the bees collect nectar,
and in the process spread pollen, which contains the flowers' genes. The Botany of Desire proposes that people and
domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. "We don't give nearly enough credit to plants," says Pollan.
"They've been working on us - they've been using us - for their own purposes."
The Botany of Desire examines this unique relationship through the stories of four familiar species, telling
how each of them evolved to satisfy one of our most basic yearnings. Linking our fundamental desires for sweetness, beauty,
intoxication and control with the plants that gratify them - the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato -
The Botany of Desire shows that we humans are intricately woven into the web of nature, not standing outside it.
(from pbs.org)
| The Botany of Desire |
| Related Links |
| The Botany of Desire Featuring Michael Pollan and based on his best-selling book, this special takes viewers on an eye-opening exploration of the human relationship with the plant world, seen from the plants' point of view. |
| List of domesticated plants - wikipedia This is a list of plants that have been domesticated by humans. The list includes species or larger formal and informal botanical categories that include at least some domesticated individuals. |
| Botany: A Blooming History This tells the story of how people came to understand the natural order of the plant world, and how the quest to discover how plants grow uncovered the secret to life on the planet. |
| The Private Life of Plants This is a nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, consisting of six episodes discussing the aspects of a plant's life-cycle. |
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