Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany (Scientific American Library Paperback) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Paul Alan Cox (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Balick and Cox have combined their own ethnobotanical expertise with documented accounts to produce a beautifully illustrated introduction to this increasingly popular topic. The final book is not only readable and fascinating, but also thought-provoking and ultimately moving. -- The Geographical Journal, 3/98

This is a fascinating integration of chemistry, botany, anthropology, history and ecology...This is an inspiring book that deserves to be read by anyone interested in conservation, ethnomedicine, and indigenous peoples. -- Kliatt, January, 1998

Two leading ethnobotanists argue that human cultural origins are woven with plants: examining the prehistoric use and gathering of plants by hunter-gatherers to modern times, this examines important connections between indigenous peoples' development and concurrent plant discoveries. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Using riveting stories of fieldwork in remote villages, the authors show how plants have affected nearly every aspect of our lives, deeply influencing the trajectory of human civilization. Includes illustrations. Paper. DLC: Ethnobotany.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company; 1st edition (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716760274
• ISBN-13: 978-0716760276
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #648,308 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to a fascinating field, April 23, 2000

By	Zack Silber-Coats (Davis, California) - See all my reviews

Balick and Cox's book provides an excellent introductory text for the field of ethnobotany. It covers a wide range of material, including medical ethnobotany, the origins of foods and indigenous stewardship of crop biodiversity, materials science, plant toxins and hallucinogens, and ethnobotanical approaches to conservation. Contrary to the last reader's opinion, the authors make clear their deep concern for indigenous rights. Cox, for example, personally took out a loan for the building of a school in Samoa, as described in Nafanua, another excellent book. Other issues discussed also reveal the authors' attempt to further indigenous well-being. In work with the Akimel O'Odham in southern Arizona, Gary Paul Nabhan was able to demonstrate the nutritional value of their traditional diet, which had been largely forsaken for all-American junk food, thus leading to severe obesity and heart problems in a people biologically adapted to a harsh desert diet. Thus in many cases, the results of ethnobotanical research can have practical, beneficial effects upon the lives of indigenous peoples.

14 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Information--Bad Judgements, April 5, 2000

By A Customer

Although this book is full of great photos, interesting information about the plants and the worlds where they come from, the authors are clearly more interested in exploiting the knowledge of the natives than attempting to appreciate the unique tribes, their customs AND the plants they use. This book should be called "The Plants We Can Take from Less Advanced People Than Ourselves".