The triumph of Seeds

The Triumph of Seeds

Right from the beginning, the toughness of the seed is described by the humorous attempts by Thor to crack it open. While I usually wait until I have read something completely to write about it I must admit, I had to put the book down and write about the toughness of the seed. When Thor Hansen asks himself, why would a seed need to be so difficult to open if that were its implicit job? I asked myself that same question, it is something I have never thought of. While I understand the mechanics and function of a seed coat, I have never truly though to ask myself, why must it be so hard? Thor introduces a simile of the seed to Coca cola. A product that works and is successful can only be expected to be found dominating all over the world. Same as the loyalists of Coke over Pepsi perhaps seed plants are the loyalists to seeds over free sporing dispersal.

One thing Thor seems to do is will bring up anecdotes about his adventures or personal life then use that to draw the reader in to make observations about seeds. An example is in page 3 where Thor describes poking a fer-de-lance snake which then attacked him while he was travelling through the rainforest. After enduring the danger, on page 5 he found his prize, the great almendro. I find this writing styles draws me in and makes me invested in his stories success, much more than just saying he has found a random seed.

On Page 9 Thor introduces us to Carol Baskin, a seed Biologist at the university of Kentucky. She was the originator of the saying “a seed is a baby plant, in a box, with its lunch”. In all honestly I though was made up by Lynn, but regardless it is one of the best descriptors for a scientific principle I have ever heard. This demonstrates her ability to transform a theory incomprehensible to most undergraduate students to a simple metaphor that is relatable to any individual. To me I believe these individuals are what are required in the scientific field. While it’s great to be a brilliant scientist with ground moving theories, if your science can never be understood its value is diminished beyond experts in your field. On Page 14 Thor’s description of seed growth amazes me, how can a small ball of cells transform into the immense monsters of the California Redwoods or the beautiful red Ponderosa Pines lining Kamloops. Whatever the seeds techniques, it truly is a marvel of nature and it all starts with a baby plant, in a box, with its lunch.

 I found Thor’s description of Mendel in page 77 very sad. To think an individual revered as a genius in the 21^st century, an age with technology beyond his wildest imagination was completely ignored in the 1800’s. Reading this this book has really expanded my interest in seeds; to most it’s such an ordinary object that we don’t even tend to think of the immense time scale it took for these miraculous “inventions” to be produced through evolution. Next time I’m in the forest I think instead of just looking up at the canopy of the trees I might want to try looking at the seed-bearing cones.

References

 Thor Hanson (2016). The Triumph of Seeds; How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History. New York, New York: Basic Books.