Plants For People

Author(s): Anna Lewington

Gardening & Agriculture

"From the time you get up to the time you go to sleep, you are using plants almost constantly- brushing your teeth with peppermint-flavoured woodpulp; bathing with bath oil; washing with soap and shampoo containing oils from plants, perfumed by a plant and thickened with cellulose; wearing clothes made from plant materials. You might indeed be wearing the world's finest fabric, made from pineapple leaves. lants for People provides an astonishing amount of information about the plants we encounter every day - the backcloth to our daily lives- plants that feed us, protect us, cure us, entertain us, transport us, clothe us, entertain us and more. But it also has a serious message- the survival of every person on earth depends on plants, and their importance will increase in the coming decades. Our challenge will be how best to manage this spectacular plant/human support system.


Product Information

The book that underpins the Eden Project's philosophy.

"This makeover of Anna Lewington's Plants for People should re-establish it as a bible for herbiphiles." -- Douglas Palmer New Scientist "A feast of a book, it's a one-stop shop of useful information about the deep impact that plants have on our lives, from the value of using wild plants in medicine to explaining how the Fairtrade system operates." BBC Gardener's World "Sometimes disturbing, sometimes hopeful, Anna Lewington gives a comprehensive and fascinating insight into the part plants play in our lives ... This magnificent production bolsters the achievments of the Eden Project in Cornwall with its sensible facts about plants ... However you dip into this book some plant miscellany will capture your attention, and the lavish photos keep you page turning. Earth Matters (Friends of the Earth)"

Anna Lewington is a well-known writer and researcher who specializes in ethnobotany: the uses people make of plants. She has conducted research in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Chile, and has a wide knowledge of the (often controversial) industrial uses of plants - from GM soya beans to the endangered wild species used in some herbal medicines. Anna has worked for many different organizations, from the World Wide Fund for Nature to the British Government, and took part in BBC TV's first 'Rough Science' series. Anna has a long-standing interest in the indigenous people and cultures of Latin America. She has also worked with rubber tappers in Brazil, the indigenous people of Chile's Atacama desert, and Andean communities. Anna's other books include ANCIENT TREES (with her photographer husband Edward Parker), an ATLAS OF RAINFORESTS, ANTONIO'S RAINFOREST and five educational books for children. Anna lives with her family in Dorset.

General Fields

  • : 9781903919088
  • : Transworld Publishers Limited
  • : Doubleday UK
  • : 1.166
  • : September 2003
  • : 250mm X 195mm X 26mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Anna Lewington
  • : Hardback
  • : 2
  • : English
  • : 630
  • : 304
  • : Col.ill.