Stephen Harris ponders the question What Have Plants Ever Done For Us?
What is the premise of your work?
This book is about 50 plants that have made multiple contributions to all facets of Western civilization since the last Ice Age. The roles of plants are frequently surprising, often overlooked and hardly ever mundane. Each portrait brings together art and science to illustrate particular points for a specific plant or group of plants. The portraits are arranged in a chronological sequence showing when the plant first made significant contributions to western culture.
What inspired you to choose this subject?
I was challenged by the publisher. For a general audience, could I show whether plants had made any contribution to Western civilisation? Once the seed was planted, it became obvious that to make the case, the science of plants could not be ignored. The aim could probably be achieved through short profiles of 50 different plants, illustrating the multifarious uses to which we have put them, together with the relevant science.
How did you select the plants?
The plants chosen are not necessarily the most important in Western civilization. Each plant had to earn its place by making multiple points. My initial shortlist of 200 was gradually pruned, although even late into the writing process last-minute substitutions were made. Once I had made my choices, I asked colleagues what they would have chosen; I was relieved to find about 60% of those on our lists were common. The result is a personal, perhaps idiosyncratic, selection of plants; some familiar, some unfamiliar and some a little quirky.
Which plants have been particularly important?
Barley was domesticated from a common grass in the Fertile Crescent, a region in contemporary Middle East, and was the staple food for Western cultures for thousands of years. Barley helped people understand chemistry and domesticate yeasts, enabling the transformation of low-value raw materials into high-value products. Barley grains were important in developing currency systems and the standardisation of units of measurement. Today, barley quenches our thirst for alcohol and is an international commodity and animal feed. At the other extreme is thale cress, a weed that is useless as food or medicine but has become a model for understanding all aspects of experimental plant sciences.
What might readers find surprising?
That 60% of our average calorie intake comes from just four species for grass: wheat, rice, maize and sugar. That some plant uses have changed dramatically: for instance, yew – a weapon of armed conflict 200,000 years ago – graduated to topiary and is now a source of cancer-fighting drugs. That woad, quinine, rubber and tea helped establish and consolidate European empires. That much of the world’s great art was funded from fortunes created by trade in plants such as pepper and nutmeg, and that millions of people were killed by the trade of rubber plants.
Which plants were of particular interest to you?
I have been thinking about the issues raised in this book for at least 25 years. Consequently, all of the plants had their own fascination. However, delving into the chemistry of alliums, the culture of the rose, the adulteration of food and drugs, the Victorian enthusiasm for coconuts and the politics of soya was particularly interesting.
What did you want to achieve with this book?
The aim was simple: to encourage readers to look at the plants surrounding them differently and to realise that each plant has its own and often quite surprising story.
You can purchase What Have Plants Ever Done For Us? here.
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