| View Larger Image | People, Plants and Genes: The Story of Crops and Humanity | Paperbackby Denis J. Murphy (Author)
| List Price: | $70.00 | | Price: | $64.36 | | You Save: | $5.64 (8%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Oxford University Press, USA | | Page Count: | 384 Pages | | Publication Date: | September 12, 2007 | | Sales Rank: | 763,679rd |
|
EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the complex story of human-plant interactions, from the hunter-gatherers of the Palaeolithic Era, through to the 21st century and the molecular genetic manipulation of crops. It links the latest advances in molecular genetics with the science and history of plant domestication, the evolution of plant breeding, and the implications of this new knowledge for both the agriculture of today and the future. Modern societies still rely on plants for most of their food needs, not to mention clothing, shelter, medicines and tools. This special relationship has tied together people and their plants in mutual dependence for over 50,000 years. Yet despite these millennia of intimate contact, people have only gone on to domesticate and cultivate a few dozen of the tens of thousands of edible plants available. Thanks to the latest genomic studies, we can now begin to explain how, when, and where some of the most important crops came to be domesticated, and the crucial role of plant genetics and climatic change in these processes. Indeed, it was their unique genetic organisations that ultimately determined which plants eventually became crops, rather than any conscious decisions by their human cultivators. The book is primarily aimed at geneticists, molecular biologists, biotechnologists, and plant breeders who require a detailed and up-to-date account of modern crop genetics and genomic research and its wider significance for agriculture. However, the accessible style will appeal to a wider readership of agronomists, archaeologists, and even historians, who wish to explore the many interactions that have shaped the often crucial relationships between plants and human societies. |
SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Nikolay Vavilov's Quest to End Famine
by Gary Paul Nabhan (Author)
The future of our food depends on tiny seeds in orchards and fields the world over. In 1943, one of the first to recognize this fact, the great botanist Nikolay Vavilov, lay dying of starvation in a Soviet prison. But in the years before Stalin jailed him as a scapegoat for the country’s famines, Vavilov had traveled over five continents, collecting hundreds of thousands of seeds in an effort to outline the ancient centers of agricultural diversity and guard against widespread hunger. Now,...
| 
| Seeds of Change: Six Plants That Transformed Mankind
by Henry Hobhouse (Author)
A personal and highly original take on the history of six commercial plants, Seeds of Change illuminates how sugar, tea, cotton, the potato, quinine, and the cocoa plant have shaped our past. In this fascinating account, the impassioned Henry Hobhouse explains the consequences of these plants with attention-grabbing historical moments. While most records of history focus on human influence, Hobhouse emphasizes how plants too are a central and influential factor in the historical process. Seeds...
| 
| Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply
by Vandana Shiva (Author)
In her latest book, "the South's best known environmentalist" (New Internationalist) and 1993 Right Livelihood Award winner, Vandana Shiva, continues her path-breaking work on uncovering the devastating human and environmental impacts of corporate-engineered international trade agreements. In Stolen Harvest, she charts the impacts of industrial agriculture and what they mean for small farmers, the environment, and the quality and healthfulness of the foods we eat. A...
| 
| The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov: The Story of Stalin's Persecution of One of the Great Scientists of the Twentieth Century
by Peter Pringle (Author)
In The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov, acclaimed journalist and author Peter Pringle recreates the extraordinary life and tragic end of one of the great scientists of the twentieth century.In a drama of love, revolution, and war that rivals Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago, Pringle tells the story of a young Russian scientist, Nikolai Vavilov, who had a dream of ending hunger and famine in the world. Vavilov's plan would use the emerging science of genetics to breed super plants that could grow anywhere,...
| 
| Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food
by Pamela C. Ronald (Author), R. W. Adamchak (Author)
By the year 2050, Earth's population will double. If we continue with current farming practices, vast amounts of wilderness will be lost, millions of birds and billions of insects will die, and the public will lose billions of dollars as a consequence of environmental degradation. Clearly, there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production.
Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, Tomorrow's Table argues that a judicious blend of two...
|
|
|
