How Flowers Made Our World

“A work of real passion… Haskell is a trustworthy companion, rational but not entirely rationalist, knowledgeable but understanding of what the ignorant need to know, expert but — and this may be a surprising word for a book of popular biology — kind. More Haskells, please, and more flowers.”—The New York Times Book Review

“We are a floral species, argues the naturalist Haskell, in this wide-ranging celebration of nature’s ‘beautiful revolutionaries.’ The book examines the myriad ways in which flowers have formed the human world, and the remarkable adaptations they have made to it.”—The New York Times

“Illuminating and entertaining…. the biologist and author combines meticulous, extensive research with irresistible enthusiasm…. Each chapter is rife with fascinating information.”—BookPage, starred review

“In this thought-provoking, free-wheeling, scintillating study of the impact of flowers on the world’s development, biologist Haskell dares readers to look beyond the beauty of blossoms to fully grasp the revolutionary power of the plants that today “quite literally run most of the planet’s ecology.” . . . . An unexpected page-turner.”—Colleen Mondor, Booklist

“[A] tribute to the flower revolution…. Haskell reflects on the outsized role that flowering plants have played on the planet, shaping biodiversity, transforming the climate, and establishing ecosystems by fostering partnerships among organisms.”—Library Journal

“Astonishing. . . Through deep research and lyrical prose, Haskell triumphantly recasts the role of flowers as foundational to humanity.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A fascinating examination of the enormous impact that flowering plants have had on all life…. Besides bringing beauty and joy into the world, flowers, Haskell asserts, can teach humans an important lesson: ‘Thriving worlds grow from cooperation, mediated by beauty, with some illusion thrown in.’ An edifying celebration.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A tapestry rich with threads of floral evolution and ecology, human aesthetics and agriculture, and an understanding of how Earth’s diversity and productivity depend on flowering plants…. From the human connection to the importance of plants for other species, to the survival tactics of our floral neighbors, Haskell explores the tremendous depth and breadth of plant knowledge.”—Hellbender Press

“Through a mixture of careful observation and extensive research, Haskell’s reflections on the natural world inevitably connect readers to deep time, to the slow course of evolution that made humans possible. By focusing on one small, typically fascinating aspect of nature, he presents Aha! moments that connect all of life…. Haskell leads the reader on sensory walks through nature, finding simple and poetic analogies for complex systems.”—Chapter 16

“David George Haskell’s great strength as a writer is that he is open to surprise. He regards the planet as a strange and beautiful place. How Flowers Made Our World is at once closely observed, richly reported, and mind-blowing.”—Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction

“’Who runs the world? Girls!’ sang Beyonce a while back, but really it’s flowers and flowering plants that run this world and have for more than a hundred million years. In this vividly written book, David George Haskell shows how they do that, how flowering plants made the modern world from prairies and rainforests to bees and butterflies, how the most trivialized part of the natural world is among its most powerful and essential.”—Rebecca Solnit, author of Orwell’s Roses

“A tender portrait of flowering plants as powerful agents of change. Flowers wield beauty as a world-making force, actively shaping the planet—and, by extension, us. This book is a joyful exhortation to floral reverence, and brims with curiosity, humor, and crystal-clear scientific delights. We are all more in sway of flowers than we think. Richly precise, How Flowers Made Our World is a celebration of the inventiveness of floral life.”—Zoë Schlanger, author of The Light Eaters

“In this dazzling book, scintillating with wonder and scholarship, Haskell shows us how flowers – so often belittled and misunderstood, have shaped ecology, and so shaped us. Flowers are tectonic, and here is a book worthy of them.”—Charles Foster, author of Being A Human

“Flowering plants as you’ve never seen them before: these flowers are the sneaky, sexy, volatile, opportunistic rebels of the vegetal world. They turned the planet on its head and, as David George Haskell demonstrates so masterfully, they have so much still to teach us. Science writing with sensuality, sensitivity and soul.”—Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment