'A joy to read ... mind-expanding' Book of the Week Guardian 'A bold and brave paean to our
planet's ligneous leafy kingdom' Telegraph 'An impressive exploration and dazzling insight
into the lives of plants' Reaction Book Digest What is it like to be a plant? It's not a
question we might think to contemplate even though many of us live surrounded by plants.
Science has long explored the wonderful ways in which plants communicate behave and shape
their environments: from chemical warfare to turning their predators to cannibalism. But
they're usually just the backdrop to our frenetic animal lives. While plants may not have
brains or move around as we do cutting-edge science is revealing that they have astonishing
inner worlds of an alternate kind to ours. They can plan ahead learn recognise their
relatives assess risks and make decisions. They can even be put to sleep. Innovative new tools
might allow us to actually see them do these things - from electrophysiological recordings to
MRI and PET scans. If you can look in the right way a world full of drama unfurls. In PLANTA
SAPIENS Professor Paco Calvo offers a bold new perspective on plant biology and cognitive
science. Using the latest scientific findings Calvo challenges us to make an imaginative leap
into a world that is so close and yet so alien - one that will expand our understanding of our
own minds. From their rich subjective experiences to how they are inspiring novel ways of
approaching the ecological crisis PLANTA SAPIENS is a dazzling exploration of the lives of
plants and a call to approach how we think about the natural world in a new maverick way.
