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Peter Tompkins

Christopher Bird

The Secret Life of Plants Paperback – March 8, 1989

by Peter Tompkins (Author), Christopher Bird (Author)

919 ratings

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Explore the inner world of plants and its fascinating relation to mankind, as uncovered by the latest discoveries of science. A perennial bestseller.

In this truly revolutionary and beloved work, drawn from remarkable research, Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird cast light on the rich psychic universe of plants. Now available in a new edition, The Secret Life of Plants explores plants' response to human care and nurturing, their ability to communicate with man, plants' surprising reaction to music, their lie-detection abilities, their creative powers, and much more. Tompkins and Bird's classic book affirms the depth of humanity's relationship with nature and adds special urgency to the cause of protecting the environment that nourishes us.

Print length

416 pages
Language

English
Publication date

March 8, 1989
Dimensions

7.9 x 5.2 x 1 inches
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The cult favorite, which hypothesized that plants may be sentient. . . . Fantastic revelations!” (New York Times)

“Once in a while you find a book that stuns you. This is such a book. It’s scope leaves you breathless.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

“Incredible. ... Bristles with plenty of hard facts and astounding scientific and practical lore.” (Newsweek)

“This fascinating book... roams over that marvelous no man’s land of mystical glimmerings into the nature of science and life itself.” (Washington Post)

From the Back Cover

The world of plants and its relation to mankind as revealed by the latest scientific discoveries. "Plenty of hard facts and astounding scientific and practical lore."--Newsweek

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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0060915870
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper & Row, Publishers; 1st Printing edition (March 8, 1989)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.9 x 5.2 x 1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #22,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #33 in Botany (Books)
- #54 in Outdoors & Nature Reference
- #111 in Plants in Biological Sciences

Customer Reviews:
919 ratings

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Customer reviews

5 star		82%
4 star		9%
3 star		5%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Kindle Customer

Pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2019

Verified Purchase

If you believe in stuff like horoscopes, you'll probably love this book. The entire first two chapters about about lay people who are into ESP who then produce claims that plants can sense, and gosh darn are they surprised when these results are not reproducible in a scientifically controllable manner. This is very obviously an old book, first published long ago (1960s) and not only are many of the claims junk, but there are also many actual, fascinating, and true facts about plants that you can find in a proper science book. Please do yourself a favor and do not buy this!

75 people found this helpful

Helpful

J Marie

I used to just talk to my house plants, after reading this I can hear them talking back.

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

What a great book. I love a good read and my husband and I will often order two books to read together. This one really knocked our socks off. We enjoy research based books and found this to be such an amazing read that it was hard to put down. I have a vegan friend who often tries to "convert" me to her cruelty free diet. She often says that plants are not sentient. I have dared her to read this book and reconsider that nonsentient stance. Man's connection to earth is amazing and this book really opened my eyes to a deeper depth. Okay, okay I don't actually hear my house plants talking back but I have been trying to hone in on our connection and they have really seemed to start thriving more than before.

74 people found this helpful

Helpful

S.O. MeGuy

Not fit for compost.

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

The premise here is that plants can read our minds and discern our intentions over great distances. This amazing fact was discovered in the sixties by the best lie detector operator in the world. Despite having subscribed to Scientific American and American Scientist since 1970 this was unknown to me. It is apparently unknown to most working scientists also. Think of the applications in rescue work alone! All you have to do is think about harming a plant and the polygraph will jump off the scale. Do not waste your money on this crap!

17 people found this helpful

Helpful

Leslie Taylor

Please read, enjoy and share!

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2020

Verified Purchase

I'm reading the book for the second time. It is a broad overview of the plant kingdom and humans' interactions with it which has been largely ignorant and self-serving leading to our demise, not surprisingly. Among other things, such as the sentience of plants (thus the vast extent of consciousness, intelligence and the natural order of the world) it reveals the facts, for example, of the hugh increase in heart disease the result of chemical farming and food sources at the time the book was published in 1973, and predicted that we were rapidly headed for cancer becoming a modern day plague. Though it was published around 50 years ago the findings covered in the book are as pertinent today was they were then.

I read a lot, in particular non fiction, plus I was involved, as layman, in the scientific community where I lived. What I observed was many working within the academic and scientific communities constantly exhibiting narrow mindedness and driven largely by their egos petty want of attention, admiration and profit aided by government agencies protecting their mutual interests, and not their fellow human beings - to say nothing of all other life forms on the planet. Sadly, this ignorance permeates the culture and focus of these organizations. And, those heroes that work in these environments, those that don't go along with the destructive self-serving status quo imposed by the upper echelons within these institutions, are often subjected to severe ridicule and career ruin. When younger, I looked up to the leaders in these fields naively believing they were the smartest and wisest amongst us. Rather, for the most part, they are a hindrance to human progress and evolution, our survival. This is becoming increasingly apparent to the majority which hopefully is leading humankind to a peaceful change, a transformation, a metamorphosis so to speak.

There's far more to the book than the authors' (and my) addressing the aforementioned problems. Please read, enjoy and share!

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

Boho-Chic

they don't have a brain like us. Duh

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2018

Verified Purchase

Mesmerizing book with fascinating accounts of the life force of plants. No, they don't have a brain like us. Duh. But there is definitely some type of "consciousness" that is present in plants, and reading the interesting studies that were done and the results was mindblowingly cool.
A fantastically cool vintage gift for a plant lover/reader/vintage lover in your life...you'll bat 3 out of 3! :)

26 people found this helpful

Helpful

Francie Nolan

Mind Blowing

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is one of the most amazing books I've ever read. I sure do look at my plants differently now. The implications are astounding. If sending love to a plant leaf can keep it alive, then sending love and compassion to our own cells or to someone else in pain must work, too. Mind blowing. Well-written, too.

77 people found this helpful

Helpful

mallione

really startling stuff. why is this a secret?

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

don't know what I was expecting, as this was a recommendation book, but certainly not this. shakes the very foundation of some physical interactions, we call laws, that appear to be more like guidelines. grandma used to say, put some crushed egg shells at the bottom of the hole when you plant, now I know why ... plants can actually convert the calcium into other elements, something my high school science teacher told us was impossible. go figure.

53 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

S Benton-Tarry

Prince Charles May Not Have Been So Daft!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

I remember the times when Prince Charles was said to have been 'caught' or seen or whatever - talking to plants and most people thought he was nuts! I was very young then I did not knock it but never thought much more about it.

More recently in my later life, I have begun to question a lot of things and so came across this book which for the most part I found enlightening and interesting. There were a few parts that I found I bit bizarre, but this was well balanced with information that I could fully understand and relate to.

The saying "food for thought" comes to mind. The governments are poisoning us because they want to - they make money from it.

4 people found this helpful

Beaky

An unusual set of narratives, confirmed in my experience.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2016

Verified Purchase

A high quality and detailed set of narratives concerning plants in various aspects. Very inspiring for me and I am busily designing and building some EKG and EEG devices to repeat experiments detailed in the book, which I had done myself back in 1980. People might not believe what the book is saying just for reading it, so when I lend it out, it will be accompanied by compact electronic instruments so that people can test for themselves. Much commended !

11 people found this helpful

Ralph Hayward

Wrong edition

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

Usually I would not be such a pedant, however, in this instance, alas, I must be "that guy". I have been sent the Perennial 2002 Reprint which has a very staid and tasteful cover, amusingly belying the utter insanity within. However, my reason for a physical copy was so that I could have the COMPLETELY INSANE original jacket leering up at me, dead-eyed and coo-coo'ing it's sentient siren song. Much as I do enjoy the disparity between the modern jacket and the untouched, deranged contents, sadly this was not the product that I paid my hard-earned money for. Your move, Bezos.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

What everyone should know.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book tells and explains what many people for 100's of years have known, we have a stronger realationship with plants and nature, than many want to admit or let be generaly known.
The so called boffins will not admit or agree that nature knows best and is in charge, and we are only a small part of it, recent events prove differently.
Some may say " this is hippy rubbish ", just read and learn before its too late, as much of the sources come from times when everyone lived simpler lives.

Amazon Customer

but I am amazed a lot of this seminal work as been so ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

A very interesting and fascinating read. It mainly covers research from as far back as 1900 but that research is very interesting. I have done some research my self in similar areas over the years, but I am amazed a lot of this seminal work as been so ignored over the years, simply because it challenges the excepted norms of science. I recommend anybody to get a copy keep an open mind, be patient and read. You will find that it will broaden the way you look at the natural world and even change how you see life.

7 people found this helpful

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The Secret Life of Plants Paperback – March 8, 1989

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Peter Tompkins

Christopher Bird

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