NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The New Yorker 's Best Books of 2024 ¿ TIME's 10 Best Nonfiction
Books of 2024 ¿ New York Magazine's 10 Best Books of the Year ¿ Washington Post's 50 Notable
Works of Nonfiction of 2024 ¿ Smithsonian 's 10 Best Science Books of the Year ¿ A Best
Book of the Year: Boston Globe Scientific American New York Public Library Christian
Science Monitor Library Journal and Publishers Weekly ¿ An Amazon Best Nonfiction Book of
the Year Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Nonfiction Prize ¿ Finalist for the
Chautauqua Prize ¿ Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize ¿ Winner of the National
Outdoor Book Award for Natural History "A masterpiece of science writing." -Robin Wall Kimmerer
author of Braiding Sweetgrass "Mesmerizing world-expanding and achingly beautiful." -Ed Yong
author of An Immense World "Rich vital and full of surprises. Read it!" - Elizabeth Kolbert
author of Under a White Sky and The Sixth Extinction Award-winning Atlantic staff writer Zoë
Schlanger delivers a groundbreaking work of natural history and popular science that probes the
hidden world of the plant kingdom "destabilizing not just how we see the green things of the
world but also our place in the hierarchy of beings and maybe the notion of that hierarchy
itself." ( The New Yorker ) It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive
and thrive while rooted in a single spot plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In
recent years scientists have learned about their ability to communicate recognize their kin
and behave socially hear sounds morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings store
useful memories that inform their life cycle and trick animals into behaving to their
benefit-a fascinating display of plant behavior and sensory abilities to name just a few
remarkable talents. The Light Eaters is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the
complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of
agency consciousness and intelligence. In this captivating exploration of plant intelligence
we see that plants rather than imitate human intelligence have perhaps formed a parallel
system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on
which it climbs a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator a
pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us
across the globe digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have
spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close. What can we learn about life
on Earth from the living things that thrive adapt consume and accommodate simultaneously?
More important what do we owe these life forms once we come to understand their rich and
varied abilities? Examining the latest epiphanies in botanical research Schlanger spotlights
the intellectual struggles among the researchers conceiving a wholly new view of their subject
offering a glimpse of a field in turmoil as plant scientists debate the tenets of ongoing
discoveries and how insights into plant communication influence our understanding of what a
plant is. We need plants to survive. But what do they need us for-if at all? An eye-opening and
informative look at the ecosystem we live in this book challenges us to rethink the role of
plants-and our own place-in the natural world tackling the enthralling question of plant
consciousness along the way. Praised as "a masterpiece of science writing " The Light Eaters
uncovers a world of botanical wonders including: Plant Senses: Can a pea seedling hear running
water? Does a flower know when a bee is approaching? A deep dive into the astonishing sensory
abilities of the plant kingdom. The Great Debate: Go inside the labs and heated arguments of a
scientific field in turmoil as researchers grapple with the evidence for plant intelligence and
what it means for the future of botany. A New View of Life: From vines that mimic other plants
to trees that recognize their own kin discover a parallel system of life that challenges our
very definition of agency and being. Groundbreaking Botanical Science: Journey across the globe
with author Zoë Schlanger as she joins the researchers uncovering the latest epiphanies about
the drama complexity and rich social lives of the green world.
