Timothy Walker (1)

This introduction to plants was very interesting to read through as if it were a narrative. It is structured so I could note many of the technical terms without needing to learn their exact meanings - that can come later on a second reading.
This is a short book, so the internet was helpful in providing illustrations, other viewpoints, and some background.
There is much to know about the plants, how they formed in water, found ways to live in the air on the land, how important they are to all us oxygen breathers, their ways of making more plants, how we must keep all their varieties alive on our changing planet, and many more things.… (mehr)

The first part of the book dealt with the 2020 Strategy for Global Plant Conservation, and was informative, but in an ethereal way, beyond what one person can do. So I zoomed in on Part 4; What can you do? At first, I was pleased to hear what one group is doing in England to conserve species, but then, the strategy was to use glyphosate repeatedly to kill off the unwanted plants so as to re-establish what is desireable. And my stomach just could not bear to read about all of that poison being used, even for a good cause.… (mehr)

"Without plants, there is no life."

A comprehensive text for plant conservation that easily could have read as a text-book, but was definitely more entertaining and written so anyone could understand and professionals could still learn something from.

Author Timothy Walker brings us through the beginnings of plant life as we know it through modern day conservation methods using the 2020 Strategy for Global Plant Conservation. This book will walk you through the five objectives and sixteen targets for the Strategy. A very down-to-earth writing style is employed and there is not a lot of gloom-and-doom that is sometimes typically included in conservation books, but there is definitely hope. Included are specific examples of how each conservation method is actually being employed today and ways everyday gardeners can help the effort.

Good for students, gardeners and anyone interested in plant life.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.… (mehr)

This book is indeed short, and it is an introduction of sorts, but oddly so, because it covers basics (evolution, reproduction, dispersal, diversity, conservation) but casually inserts botanical jargon without emphasizing the text or providing a glossary. Also it begs and pleads in vain for illustrations. The black and white photographs aren't notably informative. The one useful diagram is of plant evolution, showing the major events and categories. The tone is conversational. (This may seem contradictory, but jargon isn't jargon if it's familiar. He is comfortable with his plants and observes them with affection.) For example, after describing five hurdles in evolution from water to land: "If these five problems are put together, it is possible to see that one way of solving them simply and simultaneously is to be a liverwort." I enjoyed reading it. I want to know more, and I may well reread sections of this book when the going gets tough elsewhere. I just wished for the conversation to be in reference to a visual representation.

(read 8 Jun 2012)… (mehr)