The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior

People tend to dismiss plants as stationary and unaware things, but this book offers plenty of proof that they are fascinating, intelligent beings. Mancuso (director, International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology; Rhythms in Plants) summarizes various research in this translated work. It is difficult to compare a human body to a plant body because of our obvious differences, such as a plant does not have a central brain. Yet, plants have continued to thrive and evolve throughout time by communicating in ways that we're still discovering. Mancuso explains these complexities in comprehensive examples. The chapter on "Green Democracies" is particularly helpful, as the author relates a plant's decision-making process to that of bees selecting a new hive location or people voting. The text is full of optimism despite population and environmental concerns: Mancuso demonstrates how necessary plants are for our future survival as well as how researchers are harnessing that power now, even in the ocean and outer space. Those in the science field should feel encouraged, if not excited, by the possibilities.