This compelling story of a scientist's discovery of plant
communication reveals how we "have been misunderstanding plants, and
ourselves, for all of history"--for fans of The Hidden Life of Trees
(The Paris Review).
In this "phytobiography"--a collection of stories written in
partnership with a plant--research scientist Monica Gagliano shares
genuine first-hand accounts from her research into plant communication
and cognition.
By transcending the view of plants as the objects of scientific
materialism, Gagliano encourages us to rethink plants as people--beings
with subjectivity, consciousness, and volition, and hence having the
capacity for their own perspectives and voices. The book draws on
up-close-and-personal encounters with the plants themselves, as well as
plant shamans, indigenous elders, and mystics from around the world and
integrates these experiences with an incredible research journey and the
groundbreaking scientific discoveries that emerged from it.
Gagliano has published numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers on how
plants have a Pavlov-like response to stimuli and can learn, remember,
and communicate to neighboring plants. She has pioneered the brand-new
research field of plant bioacoustics, for the first time experimentally
demonstrating that plants emit their own 'voices' and, moreover, detect
and respond to the sounds of their environments. By demonstrating
experimentally that learning is not the exclusive province of animals,
Gagliano has re-ignited the discourse on plant subjectivity and ethical
and legal standing. This is the story of how she made those discoveries
and how the plants helped her along the way.
