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Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history
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What Have Plants Ever Done for Us? - Western Civilization in Fifty Plants (Hardcover)
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What Have Plants Ever Done for Us? - Western Civilization in Fifty Plants (Hardcover)
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List price R473
Loot Price R407
Discovery Miles 4 070
You Save R66 (14%)
Supplier out of stock. If you add this item to your wish list we will let you know when it becomes available.
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When did the British Government become the world's largest drugs
pusher? What tree is frequently used to treat cancer? Which
everyday condiment is the most widely traded spice on the planet?
Plants are an indispensable part of our everyday life. From the
coffee bush and grass for cattle which give us milk for our
cappuccinos to the rubber tree which produces tyres for our cars,
our lives are inextricably linked to the world of plants. Taking us
on a chronological journey, Stephen Harris identifies fifty plants
that have been key to the development of the Western world,
discussing trade, politics, medicine, travel and chemistry along
the way. Plants have provided paper and ink, chemicals that could
kill or cure, vital sustenance and stimulants. Some, such as
barley, have been staples from earliest times; others, such as oil
palm, are newcomers to Western industry. Moreover, with time, uses
change: beets, which have been used variously as a treatment for
leprosy, source of sugar and animal feed, are now showing potential
as biofuels. What may the future hold for mandrake or woad? We
remain dependent on plants for our food, our fuel and our
medicines. Their effects on our lives, as the stories in this
wide-ranging and engaging book demonstrate, continue to be
profound, and often unpredictable.
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