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As I started to write this review I looked out the window and saw a bush covered with large red flowers. There were birds drinking the nectar from the flowers. I was instantly reminded of the section on flower evolution in this book.
Flowers co-evolve with the creatures that feed from them. And the sort of creature can be deduced from the sort of flower. Insects see in blues and ultra violet colours, while birds and mammals see reds and oranges. Hence red flowers are more suited to attracting birds. Birds are larger than insects, so the flowers designed to feed birds also tend to be larger. Both these principals were being demonstrated right outside my window as I sat in front of my notebook. And if I hadn't read this book all these subtleties would have gone straight over the top of my head.
That is one of the big advantages of education. The more you understand about the world, the more you appreciate what you are experiencing. The finance section of a newspaper is meaningless if you don't understand the stock markets; but if you do it can be funny, exciting or sad. Anyway you can derive meaning, and even fun, from what would otherwise be background noise.
In the case of The Secret Life of Plants, you are learing about a world that you probably encounter everyday, but overlook as being meaningless. Well it isn't meaningless, there is a language being spoken in front of you that you don't even know is a language. When a flower is red that means "I want to attract birds or mamals" When it is blue it means "I want to attract insects" If the stem of the flower is long it means "I want a creature with a long tongue". If the leaves are very thick with a waxy coat it means "I am prepared for deserts or droughts". If the plant has green fruit, that turn red or yellow on ripening, that means "These fruit aren't ready yet, so they are sour, but when they're ripe I want them eaten by birds or animals".
All of this language is going on around us, and this book is the best that I have ever seen that provides a basis for decoding it. And who knows, you might even find what a plant is saying to be important someday. (For example, a field of big, red flowers may not be the best place to put your beehives.) Order The Secret Life of Plants
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