The Plant Hunters: True Stories of Their Daring Adventures to the Far Corners of the Earth

Driven by an all-consuming passion, the plant hunters traveled around the world, facing challenges at every turn: tropical illnesses, extreme terrain, and dangerous animals. They battled piranhas, tigers, and vampire bats. Even the plants themselves could be lethal! But these intrepid eighteenth- and nineteenth-century explorers were determined to find and collect new and unusual specimens, no matter what the cost. Then they tried to transport the plants — and themselves — home alive. Creating an important legacy in science, medicine, and agriculture, the plant hunters still inspire the scientific and environmental work of contemporary plant enthusiasts.

Working from primary sources — journals, letters, and notes from the field — Anita Silvey introduces us to these daring adventurers and scientists. She takes readers into the heart of their expeditions to then-uncharted places such as the Amazon basin, China, and India. As she brings a colorful cast of characters to life, she shows what motivated these Indiana Jones — type heroes. In The Plant Hunters, science, history, and adventure have been interwoven to tell a largely forgotten — yet fascinating — story.

• Author
• Anita Silvey

• Pages
• 96

• Publisher
• Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

• Language
• english

• ISBN
• 978-0-374-30908-4

• EAN
• 9780374309084

• Genres
• science, history, childrens, historical, biography, nature, juvenile, gardening

• Release date
• 2012