ToW #8 - IRB by Michael Pollan: "The Botany of Desire"

        Michael Pollan, the long-time botanist, journalist, and author, continues The Botany of Desire with chapters on the human relationships to the beautiful Tulip, the mind-altering Cannabis, and the easily controlled Potato. The sophistication of his explorations increase somewhat as these chapters go by, making the book best suited for people with a high capacity for understanding and versed science and history educations. For example, subjects vary from neurological chemistry to Dutch history to Nietzschean philosophy. Pollan writes about the formerly mentioned plants after much scholarly research (he speaks with leading neuroscientists about THC, the high-inducing chemical in Cannabis) and after growing each of the plants in his own garden. In fact, he begins his chapter on Cannabis with an anecdote from his one and only pot-farming escapade. Needless to say, Pollan proves himself as an expert on the human history of those aforementioned plants.
        The primary purpose of Pollan's seems to be to encourage a deeper appreciation of cultivated vegetation. In the chapter on tulips, he contrasts the dime-a-dozen brightly colored modern tulip with the Semper Augustus, a tulip that brought the Netherlands into an economic flower frenzy. This comparison enriches the cultural significance of the tulip in the reader's eyes, allowing them to regard it in a more flattering light. Then, when speaking about marijuana, Pollan takes a scientific look at the chemical genius that it contains rather than the traditional romanticized sentiment that so many others write about. This brings the reader into a sort of reverence for the drug's chemistry regardless of whether or not they approve of its cultural taboo. For myself at least, a reader who was very lucky to find a book that was extremely well-suited for him, Pollan was undeniably successful. As I read The Botany of Desire, I felt my intellectual world broadening, my neurological connections being reinforced, and, most importantly for Mr. Pollan, I felt the seed of botanical appreciation being sown and enjoyed every moment of its roots burrowing ever deeper into my mind.

A little bit more than your average tulip, eh?