The Secrets of Great Botanists - by Matthew Biggs (Paperback)

About the Book

Illustrated with beautiful period botanical watercolours and vibrant photographs, The Secrets of Great Botanists delves into the lives of 35 revolutionary botanists driven by an insatiable desire to learn and discover, so that we might benefit from improved crops, medicines or gardens, showing what ordinary gardeners can learn from their legacies.

Book Synopsis

Botanists have been the trailblazers in discovering how plants work to benefit our species, collecting many of the plant-species we find in our gardens today from all around the world. This informative and beautiful guide presents the stories and reveals the secrets of 35 of these botanists, plant collectors and gardening pioneers of the past and present.
This includes Joseph Banks, Asa Gray and Marianne North, highlighting the qualities that brought them success. Every botanist included in The Secrets of Great Botanists was, or is, passionate about their particular specialty. Whether they were searching for plants in wild places, prescribing herbal medicines or forming new structures of plant classification, they were driven by an insatiable desire to learn and discover, so that we, as humans, might benefit from improved crops, medicines or gardens.
Through the vibrancy of botanical photographs and beautifully illustrated period botanical watercolours, this book aims to teach readers about the observations, ideas, secrets and discoveries of these ground-breaking botanists. Their influence on gardening and the wider world will provide inspiration and practical guidance for budding gardeners of all levels and inspire readers to try these plants and tips at home.

Review Quotes

"The extraordinary stories compiled by Biggs in this remarkable collection, which celebrates a great deal more than the worthy science of botany. It is a wonderful book to dip in and out of."

- New Zealand Booklovers

"Every time I open the book, I
see a page that just invites me in."
-

Bob Tanem In The Garden with Edie
Tanem, KSFO, Cumulus Radio Station Group

"Beautifully and profusely illustrated throughout with full color photography and museum quality artwork, "The Secrets of Great Botanists: And What They Teach Us About Gardening" is informatively enhanced for the reader's benefit with the inclusion of a two page Bibliography and a four page Index. Informed, informative, exceptionally well written, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "The Secrets of Great Botanists: And What They Teach Us About Gardening" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Gardening instructional reference collections."

- Midwest Book

"It's both an inspiration and a guide to how we can use [great botanists'] knowledge in our gardens today."

- Better Homes and Gardens Australia

"Organised chronologically, each botanist is profiled with their life story, specialty, discoveries and secrets, providing inspiration and practical guidance to gardeners of all levels."

- Gardening Australia

"This stunningly illustrated book would make a lovely gift for a garden lover."

- Grass Roots

"Those people who love a beautifully illustrated book which is informative, interesting and a joy to browse will not be disappointed." - Blue Wolf