Seeds, Sex and Civilization by Peter Thompson

Seeds, Sex and Civilization by Peter Thompson

This is a scientific detective story with heroes and heroines following clues and finding answers. Thompson brings to life the eccentrics, explorers, amateurs, and highly dedicated professionals who have accumulated our knowledge. Some are well known, such as Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel; others, like the Russian geneticist Nikolai Vavilov, are less so. The seeds also have a story and appear to have personalities, ambitions, and stratagems of their own The book concludes with a chapter by Stephen Harris on current debates about genetically modified crops, seed conservation, and plant ownership in the contemporary world.

PeterThompson, for many years the Head of Plant Physiology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was a pioneer in the application of seed banking to the conservation of threatened plant species. In later years he ran a plant nursery and wrote many books for gardeners, including The Propagator’s Handbook and The Self-Sustaining Garden. PeterThompson died in 2008 after writing this book. Stephen Harris is Druce Curator of the Oxford University Herbaria and a Fellow of GreenTempleton College. He is the author of Ecological Genetics: Design,Analysis and Application as well as two books on botanical history and plant illustration.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780500251706
ISBN 10	0500251703
Title	Seeds, Sex and Civilization
Author	Peter Thompson
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Thames & Hudson Ltd
Year published	2010-10-04
Number of pages	272
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable