Customer Reviews

The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants

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Frankenfood, corn-powered cars, seedless oranges, and cloned cows--if you wonder how we got there from here, read "The Garden of Invention," which shares the story of plant pioneer Luther Burbank, inventor of dozens of famous and infamous fruits, vegetables, and flowers, including the Satsuma plum and Black Giant cherry, rainbow corn and elephant garlic, Shasta daisy and American Evening primrose--not to mention spineless cacti. In his own time (Burbank developed more than 800 new varieties between 1873 and 1925), he was as famous as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, and hero to such diverse icons as Andrew Carnegie and Swami Paramahasa Yoganada. His legacy gave rise to "The Garden as Intellectual Property," as Smith titles her last chapter. This book is fun, fascinating, fast-reading food for thought.

GARDEN OF INVENTION: LUTHER BURBANK AND THE BUSINESS OF BREEDING PLANTS offers an excellent history of the plant breeder and farm and garden efforts in early 20th century America. A century ago Burbank was the most famous gardener on the planet. This survey of his contributions is not a biography nor an encyclopedia of his creations but a cultural and social survey of Burbank's influences on gardening trends and American culture, and deserves a spot in any general lending library.

Who knew the history of plant breeding was so exciting?! I couldn't put this book down. I felt like I was sitting front and center in watching our history unfold. I found the book so interesting, presenting plant inventions in the context of the history of our country, our academic systems, our policy decisions, and business interests.

These were intertwined with the personal history of some fascinating characters. The inventors Burbank, Edison, Ford, Firestone alongside characters like Helen Keller and famous authors of the day made history come alive in technicolor.

It's amazing to see the connecting thread (over centuries in the making) to our current food systems, loss of heirloom varieties, scientific thinking about epigenetics, and even the medical marijuana debate centered around the inability of big pharma to patent plants, leading marijuana plant production to be relegated to dark corners. It shows how important history is to our modern day challenges and philosophical debates.

The only difficult thing was to keep track of the sequence of events as the chapters skipped around chronologically. Understandably, the book was oriented around conceptual themes to hold together the complexity and breadth of the many story lines. However, it was sometimes disjointing to find people had died in a previous chapter only to be alive and well and part of the next chapter.

I'm really glad I read this book. I found myself pondering on many events and issues discussed here.

I really enjoyed this book. If you, or someone you know, at all enjoys gardening and has a curious mind, they'll like this book. A great gift for the occassional to avid gardener.

No one can argue that Luther Burbank did more for plants, farming and gardening than anyone else. His work has helped to feed thousands....

American ingenuity is an obvious standout in this selection where his genius shines and his ideas provide a portrait of the fastening of gardens, science and business of inventions....

Fascinating...

A must read for anyone interested in American history, natural history, or gardening. Well written and researched.

Everyone who has read The Omnivore's Dilemma should read The Garden of Invention. This biography explains the start one hundred years of corporate food and factory farms.

Fascinating book and well written. Covers the subject in depth and with lots of details.

This was really interesting for my mom who's an avid gardener and reader of historical non-fiction. She loved it!

The book isn't exactly a biography, but it tells the story of Luther Burbank, a man who was famous in his time for developing new plants, including the Russet potato and elephant garlic. Highly recommended for gardening fans, and still recommended, although with slightly less enthusiasm, for those of us who don't own a nursery.