by Hope Jahren
Reviewed by Linda:
No less an authority than the New York Times described this book as doing for botany what Oliver Sacks did for neurology and Stephen Jay Gould for paleontology. If the goal was making her subject matter fascinating for non-scientists, then Hope Jahren succeeds brilliantly, and readers who savored "The Hidden Life of Trees" will be delighted with it. But this book is also a stunning memoir of how a woman facing seemingly insurmountable challenges manages, with the crucial help of an unforgettable, eccentric male colleague, to follow her passion and run a science lab. Totally inspiring.