What Is The Botany Of Desire Chapter Summaries

Book Review: The Botany of Desire

Michael Pollan’s book reveals the story between the relationship of Man vs Nature, and the connection it has with life on Earth. He mentions his objective for his book: to view plants in an intimate relationship with humans by looking at ourselves differently. The book creates an adventure through history to forms of life now, and examines plants through multiple points of views. The Botany of Desire demonstrates a unique comparison of the terms “Botany” and “Desire” through his four chapters:apple,tulip,marijuana, and the potato. Pollan connects human desire and its exploitation of plants through the combination of sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control.

In chapter one, Pollan depicts the sweetness of

The beauty of flowers has been taken for granted because people praise the flowers that bloom, then trash the ones that wither and die. Pollan connects the universal love for flowers in his explanation for tulips in this chapter. He makes an interesting point that people can’t afford flowers unless they have enough money to feed themselves. The priorities of society are centered on providing for their families rather than spending extra money on items like flowers that lack necessity. Pollan uses this observation to exploit the importance of flowers as a predictor of future food. In the past, people who recognized flowers became better foragers, and gained pleasure from their beauty. They understood the “object of desire” from spotting flowers in gardens, landscapes, and nature. Continuing with the object of desire, Pollan discloses the origin of beauty, plants that mammals desire. The makeup of the tulip is designed to attract specific flying insects:bees. For example, honeybees favor the radial symmetry of daisies while bumblebees prefer the bilateral symmetry of orchids. The relation with humans is similar to bees by being awakened from the petal’s colors and formal organization. Pollan does an excellent job in this chapter with his explanation of “flowers taking over the world” with their beauty and aroma

Pollan explains in this chapter the fine line between poison and desire, focusing on the seductive plant:marijuana. He demonstrates the poisonous effect plants have on animals that trigger the plant’s defense system. For example, cattle will develop a taste for locoweed that can prove fatal. Cannabis plants release chemicals that have the power to alter human consciousness; therefore, the desire to change our minds is hard-wired into humans. Pollan travels in time to his past experiences with growing marijuana, and how over time the plant has been become more of an issue. Cannabis plants have contributed beneficial treatments for labor pains and asthma throughout history, although perceptions changed when immigrants starting bringing marijuana over. The enforcement has increased due to human desire playing a major role in our mental estate. Pollan continues the timeline by the evolution of cannabis plants being grown outside, although due to the strict laws, the manipulation of the plant’s environment indoors has changed the way we grow plants today. The term “transparent” is used to characterize drugs that affects the consciousness, interfering with one’s ability to get through the day and obligations. The plants pose a threat to the workings of the social order. Culturally, these plants has been sacred to society by contributing to human spirituality. This chapter explores