Customer Reviews

The Secret Life of Plants: A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man

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1 star:		(12)

 

 

THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird is a wonderful book of wisdom about the plant world and life in general. Like many people my age, I cut my teeth on Disney's "Living Desert" back in the 1950s. That film killed the notion for me that nothing lives in Death Valley and if Death Valley can be alive what else is possible?

SECRET LIFE is like the old Disney films because the book describes science that challenges stereotypical mainstream thinking. Anyone who believes plants are sentient beings will love this book. If you've done much reading on this subject you've probably seen Tompkins and Bird quoted elsewhere.

In the first part of their book, the authors explore the attributes of plants and pretty much conclude they have everything in common with animals-except plants probably came first on the evolutionary ladder and prepared the way for animals. In fact, if earth was invaded by alien species, the authors suggest the aliens were probably plants. But, you say, plants have roots and stay put (for the most part) and plants produce chlorophyll. Shell fish (oysters, mussels) and sea anemones can be rooted to one spot and small protozoa-like creatures produce chlorophyll.

Probably the thing I like the best about this book is that finally, someone links the Chakras to real body parts-the seven endocrine centers--and explains the reasons why these "hot spots" are so important. Also, Tompkins and Bird explain the scientific reasoning behind Bach flower remedies and many other "new age" products you can find at Fresh Fields and other holistic stores.

Skeptics will always have doubts, but after 30 years of organic gardening and non-academic exposure to plants, I know Tompkins and Bird are onto something. So do many modern scientists who have discovered belatedly that much of what the authors described 30 years ago may be true afterall.

Cutting edge scientists are frequently ignored. Once upon a time some people thought George Washington Carver was a fruitcake because he thought plants had feelings (they do). Carver discovered many unusual things as did a number of other later Nobel winners, although sometimes folks like Gregor Mendel were not recognized until it was too late.

If you want to be a better person, a wiser consumer, a great gardener, and healthier, you owe it to yourself to read THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS. It isn't all about them.

I am not exaggerating. When I picked up a copy of THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS, to go on a journey into the previously "unknown" world of plants, it was listed as, both, a new age and an occult book. Yes, to some it sounds pretty woo woo and out there that the common houseplant could take such a liking to Brahms, or such a disliking to hard rock music, that it would be driven to either thrive or shrivel. Yet, according to scientists and scientific scholars, stranger things have happened--and, in their words and by their accounts, they really DID happen! For example, plants who were the subjects of numerous tests and studies in a laboratory, were proven to have "human-like" feelings for the people that they were introduced to. In fact, the relationships progressed to the point that when one of the participants in the study nearly got run over by public transportation on the street, the participating plant was recorded in reacting in alarm to the peril that the human subject was put in! This wasn't all. Plants also are also proven, in this book, to respond to human sexuality in a very powerful (if not anthropomorphized) manner. Besides the studies, we are introduced to the beliefs of Goethe and the scientific progress made by George Washington Carver (of peanut cultivation fame).

I can definitely see why this engrossing book inspired a soundtrack and an (as of today) unreleased documentary film. This book, written by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, is, quite possibly one of the most engrossing books pertaining to biology and modern-day symbiotic relationships between plants and humans that I have ever read. If THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS had been assigned reading in my high school biology class, I might have chosen a different path in college (in the plant sciences, perhaps!). If that isn't a vote of confidence from me, the humble liberal arts major, I don't know what is! Read this fantastic book today.

This book changed my life. I found it absolutely fascinating and was stunned when my PhD supervisor (I'm a plant biologist) told me that she had read it too. I was interested to know where the amazing information came from that they present and was dissapointed, but not particularly surprised, that all the "science" that they refer to is published in journals with names like "The Russian Journal of Parapsychology" and the like. Not a single one was in a journal that I could easily get access to, so, while it is wonderful food for thought and a great hommage to the importance and wonder of plants, the evidence they present should be taken with a grain of salt unless you can find other research backing it up. But enjoy. It really is mind-boggling!

The study of plants and human interaction come to life in this fine book and if read with an open mind and heart, one will no doubt be left with a new sense of awe and empathy for our plant world.

Chapter after chapter relates a multitude of discoveries from plant research around the world that demonstrate how plants grow, metabolize, and communicate not only within their own structure, but with all other life forms. Some researchers have used polygraph instruments connected to leaf surfaces to observe responses through electro-magnetic activity to various stimuli such as: raucous, loud music compared with mellow, harmonious music. The results are always the same: plants react favorably to mellow music while continuous raucous sounds can actually kill them. Even more amazingly, perhaps, is that plants accurately react to good or bad thoughts directed at them or other biological life forms and even at great distances.

Perhaps the most profound discovery of all of this plant research, however, is that plants are truly sentient beings capable of a multitude and range of feelings. Many skeptics have been astonished to discover this fact, but since this phenomena can be demonstrated using relatively simple tests, it is there for anyone to prove it on their own.

Masaru Emoto, a researcher in Japan, has come to the conclusion that sentient life is found in just about all life forms including water, which is the focus of his research. In his book, "The Hidden Message in Water", Emoto tells of using some of the same studies to demonstrate that ice crystals formed from various frozen water samples, show a sentient response to the same stimuli that the plants have been subjected to and with the same results.

This book references a broad spectrum of researchers such as Rachel Carson, author of the famous "Silent Spring"-1962. This book was a powerful indictment of chemical pesticides, herbicides, etc. and which was considered to be the biggest boost to environmental awareness that continues on to this day. She wrote about the alarming side effects of chemical contamination and the ludicrous, unnecessary vicious cycle of ever expanding need for more chemicals while plants and insects, unlike most other life-forms, so expertly alter their composition to resist this assault. Of course, the chemical manufacturers (aka: merchants of poison and death) are laughing all the way to the bank with this dangerous and insidious snake-oil scam.

After reading this book, one might feel a sense of rage about the assault of the thoughtless and needless use of toxic chemicals used on plant and insects, overflowing into all other life forms, wreaking havoc on non-targeted ecosystems. But, what goes around, comes around (Karma, and in this case, bad).

The book finishes with the founding story of the Findhorn Community in Scotland, an ecologically conscious horticultural group who started their project with the full awareness that plants are sentient and in this harsh land, would need more than just good organic farming techniques- they would also need continuous positive mental feed-back from their human caretakers. Findhorn has been a resounding success and is now a highly regarded learning center.

As other reviewers have stated, "this book should be read by every human on the planet" and hopefully, all will come to appreciate the multitude of life-providing services that plants bestow on humanity.

This is one of the more enlightening texts I have ever come upon. To think that pre-electronic work was done by Bose in India more than 100 years ago is indicative of intellect and insight the likes of Tesla and Einstein. I have with great enthusiasm told and retold stories from this book to so many and I enjoy the looks of astonishnment resultant. To know that plants can be amplifiers or somehow otherwise receptors -conveyors of our thoughts-feelings, continues to me to be such a mind-blower. To those of you really turned on by this book, you would be equally entertained by the very thought provoking book: MORNING OF THE MAGICIANS. Give it a shot. Most hearty thanks to Mr. Tompkins and Mr. Bird.

It seems as if a lot of the reviewers below think this book is cute. Alot of them say that if you are into plants and flowers than you will find this interesting. I agree on that level, but this book has a much stronger undercurrent that I hope alot of people will pay attention to. Through a series of experiments, the authors portray the sentient quality of common plants. The simple fact that a plant "knows" when you are thinking bad thoughts. They respond to external stimulai much like any human would. In fact, it seems as if their "awareness" is heightened to include those in the psychic categories. In one experiment, they have a random selection of men. One is chosen at random to go in and destroy one of three plants. The other two plants (common rhododendron) are then hooked up to electro-encephalographs (EEG - brain wave monitors.) and they march the men in one by one. The plants exhibit no alarm, but as soon as the one responsible for the plant death enters the room, the other two plants start registering wildy on the graphs. Basically, they knew who it was that killed their friend. Or, too be more blunt, they read his mind. This has incredible implications for those who believe plants (and animals) are lesser beings. The idea I got from this, is that there is an energy that flows throughout everything on this planet and through space universal. One invisible energy that ties us all together. Man, woman, cat, dog, tree, possibly even rocks (Read the Celestine Prophecy, or study the Nepalese monks that live in the Himalayas, and maybe you'll see what I am getting at.) are all interconnected. In most religious groups there is talk of God within us, from Christianity to Islam, from Buddhism to Hinduism. Could it be that god is everything and everywhere at once. Always and always. I might be getting carried away here, but I feel that this book has touched on something strong. The whole universe is sentient. Now when I go for a hike I feel as if the woods are completely aware of my presence and not only that, but they are aware of my vibes that I give off, aware of my appreciation. I love the woods and after reading this book, it makes sense that the woods love me back because of that. Play some good music for your plants tonight.

I acquired this book in the early seventies, when I was a young man. Mr. Tompkins and Mr. Bird did an excellent job with a difficult subject of plant life and the science of Botany by making it romantic and interesting. Over the years, I have added thousands of books to my library, moving numerous times and even married a librarian. But I have always known which shelve in my library this volume could be found. My copy is like an old friend.

The studies described in this book are phenominal. I will truly never look at plants the same. This book provides information on plants at a scientific and metaphysic level, that you probably have never heard before; at least I havent. It is truly shocking! I recommend this book to all the "green thumbs" out there who know what it is like to communicate with plants, and want more information on how this communication takes place. Its reassuring. This is a very powerful book. A+++

This is a must read for anyone with an interest in the Plant Kingdom. The book touches areas of science, spirituality, and nutrition conspiracies.
The begining part of the book, tells us about humans andhow their thought patterns, can make plants thrive or die. Examples of a lie detector being hooked up to a plant, which detects nervous energy when threatened by fire. Also the use of positive and negative thinking to influence the growth of plants. Showing through intensive research that plants do have feelings and possibly what we believe as a soul.
The book moves along, explaining the many experiments done with humans and plants. We see how specific music can benefit or stagnate growth, this is probally true for both humans and plants. We get a taste of nutritional information, with the knowledge that refined foods do not give our bodies complete nutrients, ( i.e. sugar, flour, basically anything processed ). Food designed to make us ill? Thoughts arise with information found in this book.
The end of the book brings us a look at organic farming, the benefits for humans, and the soil.
This book touches on many exciting facts and for my second time through it, I was still thrilled about discoveries that were made over 30 years ago. I hope that many people will enjoy this book as much as I have.

You have probably heard about George Washington Carver, famous for transforming the peanut into many marketable products, and Luther Burbank, the plant genius who developed marvelous new varieties in his plant breeding programs. If you want to learn about their achievements, you can look them up in an Encyclopedia. But if you really want to know what they did to produce their amazing achievements, you need to read The Secret Life of Plants.

This book contains details about their childhoods, for example, that George Washington Carver was a frail child and that he maintained a secret greenhouse in the woods where he cured sick plants. Also, that as a child, he used plants to cure sick animals.

You can also learn about the way these geniuses worked with plants, for example, that Luther Burbank had an amazing intuitive ability to know which of the plants in his plant breeding experiments contained the traits he desired. He evidently could go through millions of seedlings and pick out the ones that showed the most promise.

Furthermore, The Secret Life of Plants also describes the exploits of plant geniuses you may not have heard of, for example, a great Bengali scientist, knighted by King George V for his achievements, Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose, who discovered the interrelationship of plants and electromagnetism. There is also the Russian husband-wife team, the Kirlians, who discovered a way of photographing the aura around living things. In addition, you can read about Canadian researchers at the University of Ottawa, who used sound vibrations to speed up the growth of plants.

There are many more fascinating topics covered in this book, among them, the North Scotland community of Findhorn that works with nature spirits to produce amazing gardens, that dowsing is considered a respected science in France, and that the alchemists' goal of transmuting elements is effortlessly accomplished everyday by plants.

Co-author, Peter Tompkins, who also penned such fascinating tomes as Secrets of the Great Pyramid and Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids, unearths fascinating information by detailing the work of scientists shunned by conformist academia.

Being an avid organic gardener, I especially enjoyed learning why and how chemical fertilizers deplete the soil of nutrients, and also the amazing research that shows that plants have produced the nutrients they needed without supplemental chemicals or additives.

Probably The Secret Life of Plants is the most valuable to me because it shows how scientists using plants were able to prove the reality of telepathy, something researchers holding up index cards to human subjects have not been able to do adequately.