Customer Reviews

Seeds: Time Capsules of Life

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I saw this book in the library and after checking it out once, twice and then three times, I knew I had to own it.

I can't really comment on the text, I don't know enough about the subject. I only know that I read the book and was facinated by the more scientific information. But I can say that I never tire of looking at the pictures. They are simply beautiful. When I want inspiration for building a new clay form, when I am looking for a color theme for painting or crocheting or glazing, I find it in the photographs in Seeds. The quality of the photography is excellent and the selection of seeds chosen for the book is varied enough that each picture illustrates something new.

This is not a book that once read, has nothing more to offer. I would recommend Seeds:Time Capsules of Life even to those who only wanted to look at the photographs and be inspired by the design and color revealed inside.

This book and the companion book "Pollen" will wow both professionals and layman. Buy it just for the beauty of the superb photos or for the detailed data. Lay these books out on the coffee table and you can be sure they will be picked up over and over again. The photos mezmerize with the sheer magnitude of nature's design.

The general-interest public will find more accessible Rob Kesseler and Wolfgang Stuppy's SEEDS: TIME CAPSULES OF LIFE. Alexandra Papadakis edits this stunning natural history of seeds, which uses an oversized format/presentation to display close-up photos and electron microscopy images of seed evolution. The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew are involved in this reference's publication, which obtains some astonishing images and focuses on the diversity, design and function of seeds the world over.

Wow!

This book's number one feature is the fantastic photography; seeds as you have never imagined them. It was my privilege to spend nearly two months at Kew Gardens and the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place, studying plant conservation techniques; with an interest in seed biology. This book keenly illustrates the fantastic and varied sizes and shapes of seeds from the largest - Coco de Mer from the Seychelles, to the smallest, though not least, orchids.

If botany makes you queasy, do not fear, the text is easy to read. There are many examples of seeds, plants, and the stories the seed form may reveal. To a plant, its seeds represent survival, and plants have some amazing ways to disperse their progeny. These amazing and diverse photos illustrate the many adaptations plants use to ensure survival. Seeds are little dormant plants in suspended animation waiting a season, a decade, or a millennium.

If you know someone that has an interest in plants this may be a book to inspire. For the authors of the book: Wolfgang Stuppy and Ron Kesseler: they memorialize their inspiration from Heribert Huber and George Busby, respectively. Maybe you can help someone on his or her path.

I highly recommend this book,
Cheers, JAB

Amazing depiction of the minutest of the minute gifts of nature.
Every image is amazing with color and form, this is an artists delight for inspiration and appreciation of nature.