Thor Hanson - The Triumph of Seeds

Seeds surround us. From our morning coffee to the cotton in our clothes, the spices in our foods, and the cosmetics we use, seeds are part of nearly every aspect of our lives. They give us food and fuels, intoxicants and poisons, oils, dyes, fibers, and spices. Without seeds there would be no bread, rice, beans, corn, or nuts. “They are quite literally the staff of life,” says award-winning conservation biologist Thor Hanson, “the basis of diets, economies, and lifestyles around the globe.”

In his new book, The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History, Hanson turns his eye to the ubiquitous seed plants that dominate landscapes and define entire ecosystems. Following the winding path that seeds have paved through evolution, natural history, and human culture, he examines the traits and habits that have allowed seeds–and the plants that bear them–to be so successful, and to so thoroughly transform our planet.

Thor Hanson is a conservation biologist, Guggenheim Fellow, Switzer Environmental Fellow, and member of the Human Ecosystems Study Group. The author of Feathers and The Impenetrable Forest, Hanson lives with his wife and son on an island in Washington State.

Location: 

1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94111
The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History By Thor Hanson Cover Image
$26.99
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ISBN: 9780465055999
Published: Basic Books - March 24th, 2015