The Science of Plants: Inside Their Secret World (DK Secret World Encyclopedias)

The book is excellent…. It the exact same book as Flora, with a different cover…. I already have two copies of that book. I will return this one. If you don’t have Flora, this is a great choice.

This is designed as a coffee table book, too heavy to rest on your lap, with large format spectacular illustrations and a small number of words on every page. As such, it tells you things you already know, but also often small curiosities about the many varied ways plants have adapted to survive different environments. For instance, the poisonous seeds of the castor oil plant are illustrated – they contain ricin. But there is no discussion of the strongly allergenic qualities of the pollen and other parts of this very common plant. So, curiosity may be piqued rather than satisfied.This is not the place to find the foundations for a serious study of botany. It tells you virtually nothing about climate, habitats and soils, and I did not find any maps. I never found the formula for photosynthesis. There is, bizarrely, very little on the fascinating history of food crops. And there is only limited discussion of the way communities of plants interact with each other – pages on the fly agaric and on mistletoe are exceptions.It is very international - clearly designed to be sold worldwide. Someone with a stronger interest in UK plants and their identification and history might enjoy Richard Mabey's Flora Britannica more.This book could be inspirational for an art project, perhaps one that focuses on the textures, colours and patterns of seeds and leaves, although in the interests of spectacular close-ups, the whole plant is often not illustrated. Reflecting this visual focus, several pages look at western art inspired by plants and historic herbals, and the work of some female botanical artists is included.

As far as I'm aware this is a straight reprint of the DK 'Flora' edition published in 2018, it can be picked up a lot cheaper than this new reprint.The word science in the title I found rather misleading. The book is aimed at a general reader and comes across, at least to me, as a visual look at plants backed up with some basic botanical knowledge. The huge photos of plants, mostly as cut-outs, make each spread rather overwhelming and impressive to look at. The six chapters (Plant kingdom; Roots; Stems and branches; Leaves; Flowers; Seeds and fruits) with the huge photos should be enough to satisfy any amateur gardener.

The strength of this book is in its beautiful illustrations, and the large size format allows the presentation of considerable detail. It covers the myriad of forms encountered in the plant world, but despite the title "the science of plants", you won't learn a huge amount of detail about the internal biology and the "how they work" aspect. You will be able to learn, to take an example, the names of all the different varieties of leaf shape, but knowing the names of things doesn't in itself tell you anything at all about what they do (as memorably noted by Richard Feynman - look up "Richard Feynman name of a bird" or something similar on the interweb).

One for the connoisseurs, a fine volume published by DK and Kew Gardens. This is the most technical and scientific gardening / plant books I have ever seen that is aimed at households and enthusiasts. A completely clear and precise look at what is the world of plants and how they thrive in the challenges of their habbitat. Other scientific texts i've read rarely take this perspective nor approach, which i really think looses a lot of the complex reasons for their adaptations; this book is amazingly well written and well researched. It is a must have and buy for your bookshelf. You will find it facinating. It is a quality hardback and quality paper. Beautiful illustrations and pictures. I have read it cover to cover and are still enthrawled to reread it. Fantastic value for money and a must buy, Andrew

Tremendous book that is a welcome addition to the home library I am collecting for my grandchildren. (I have a potential zoologist and a potential botanist, with another two being good artists who may turn their hands to illustrations). This book satisfies educational growth for all of them. Fascinating information. I remember David Bellamy's TV programmes and this book brings back an interest in things that grow.A couple of niggles though (not the content): size and weight - it's enormous and very heavy. Could be smaller without loss of impact. That might also reduce the price. And I cannot imagine having as a Kindle version unless I was to only access on a large screen notebook rather than tablet.