Rating: 
Summary: Belongs on every bookshelf.
Review: I remember reading this book for the first time in the 1970's - it's concepts were new. Remember when it was a new idea to "talk to our plants"? Some people balked at the idea, but today it isn't that new, we know now that plants respond to our thoughts and emotions.
This is a valuable book on every bookshelf!
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Summary: Great!
Review: I was really blown away by the things I learned about Bose. I love listening to music and learned alot from this book.
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Summary: More New Age Nonsense
Review: If they really were sentient beings, one must wonder if plants are as gullible as the humans that believe this book. If so, plants must be having a jolly good laugh.
Peter Tomkins and Christopher Bird based a large part of this book on the work of Cleve Backster, a "scientist" of questionable credentials. Backster's "experiments" on the galvanic skin response of plants, first published in the International Journal of Parapsychology in 1968, have been thoroughly refuted by qualified scientists using proper controls. No duplication of Backster's experiments using genuine scientific methods have ever produced a similar result. But heaven forbid anything as trivial as facts or evidence interfere with new age anthropomorphization.
This book belongs on the "some people will believe anything" shelf alongside faux scientific tomes on crop circles, ESP, spoon bending, astrology, and other pseudo-science nonsense. Readers wishing to better understand the fascinating world of botany would be better advised to spend their money on any number of truly scientific books on plants.
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Summary: Life affirming scientific case studies of vegetable life
Review: It is an axiom oft stated that the magic of one century becomes the science of the next. This overly hopeful idea of how perceptions of human knowledge change in time is not supported by this book. Ideas seen as magical are not inevitably accepted by mainstream scientists; instead, theories and practices proven by experiment are routinely denied admission into the halls of academe, because of they support a science of life rather than one of death, and envision a universe which is alive and fertile, a living organism in fact, rather than one which is dead and brittle, made up of pieces with which scientists can play as if they were Tinkertoys.Tompkins and Bird present this thesis by means of a number of case studies of thinkers at the vanguard of botanical thought. Among these actors in this new study of plant life are Cleve Backster, who showed that plants can sense the emotions of humans; Luther Burbank, who demonstrated that plants will grow to please members of our race; and various researchers who proved that plants will respond to music, growing toward the music of Bach and fleeing that of Led Zeppelin. These experiments prove conclusively that the standard definition of plants as insensible is inaccurate. These experiments are only the surface of this book, however, the intent of which is not only to do away with old thinking on this matter, but also to inform us or perhaps just to remind us that the entire planet is alive, and that it is for the good of the planet that we begin to feed ourselves in a simpler manner. The authors accordingly provide case studies of farmers, such as J. Rodale, who raise healthy crops without artificial fertilizers or pesticides. These crops have a far greater output than do those raised by conventional methods, because the earth responds to the simpler methods better than to the harsh materialistic approaches advocated by the government and by fertilizer manufacturers. This book, then, will show those willing to see that plants not only can communicate with us, but that they also are willing to work with humanity to return us to Eden, or more prosaically, that through methods less harmful to the environment and less expensive than commercial fertilizers, farmers can raise crops which surpass the abundance of those raised by conventional methods. There are a few cases, such as those in the chapter on radionic pesticides, which were not supported by sufficient evidence to prove their points, but in general this book demonstrates that plants are indeed more alive than we suspected, and are our willing helpmates in all aspects of life, if we would but listen. Recommended for all who work with plants, and for those who already believe in the living universe, and who want to see scientific confirmation of that fact.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful fun, well written, with painstaking research
Review: It is one of the best books about plants that I have ever read. It is wonderful fun, and teaches you to aprecciate God's creatures. I found particularly interesting the chapter on Steve Baxter's primary cell perception theory and experiments. I strongly recommend it, especially if you are interested in metaphysical interpretations about life. You'll get a good glimpse of a higher purpose, a higher harmony.
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Summary: look deeper
Review: It seems as if a lot of the reviewers below think this book is cute. Alot of them say that if you are into plants and flowers than you will find this interesting. I agree on that level, but this book has a much stronger undercurrent that I hope alot of people will pay attention to. Through a series of experiments, the authors portray the sentient quality of common plants. The simple fact that a plant "knows" when you are thinking bad thoughts. They respond to external stimulai much like any human would. In fact, it seems as if their "awareness" is heightened to include those in the psychic categories. In one experiment, they have a random selection of men. One is chosen at random to go in and destroy one of three plants. The other two plants (common rhododendron) are then hooked up to electro-encephalographs (EEG - brain wave monitors.) and they march the men in one by one. The plants exhibit no alarm, but as soon as the one responsible for the plant death enters the room, the other two plants start registering wildy on the graphs. Basically, they knew who it was that killed their friend. Or, too be more blunt, they read his mind. This has incredible implications for those who believe plants (and animals) are lesser beings. The idea I got from this, is that there is an energy that flows throughout everything on this planet and through space universal. One invisible energy that ties us all together. Man, woman, cat, dog, tree, possibly even rocks (Read the Celestine Prophecy, or study the Nepalese monks that live in the Himalayas, and maybe you'll see what I am getting at.) are all interconnected. In most religious groups there is talk of God within us, from Christianity to Islam, from Buddhism to Hinduism. Could it be that god is everything and everywhere at once. Always and always. I might be getting carried away here, but I feel that this book has touched on something strong. The whole universe is sentient. Now when I go for a hike I feel as if the woods are completely aware of my presence and not only that, but they are aware of my vibes that I give off, aware of my appreciation. I love the woods and after reading this book, it makes sense that the woods love me back because of that. Play some good music for your plants tonight.
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Summary: Extra tip for improving soil if it hasn't been mentioned yet
Review: It's known that soil typically improves after the harvesting of soybeans & peanuts & let's not forget also what the Bible has to say about taking care of the land - to give the land a rest every seventh year.
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Summary: Surely you are joking, Mr Tompkins and Mr Bird!
Review: Okay, okay, I will admit reading this book, but only because I foolishly thought this book was about plant biology and scientific progress into plant habitat and their reaction to their environment and to other plant species. But what I got instead was a book that talks about ESP, mind-over-matter, Yoga, hynopsis, extra-terrestial plant seeds, and some very questionable scientific methodology of experiments. There is even a section of how to become "one with your houseplant"! Consequently, I felt as if the book's two authors are still stuck in the hippie, drug-culture of the 60s when they wrote this book. If you even believe an iota of this book, I recommend Carl Sagan's book The Demon-Haunted World. For your sanity, people, avoid this book like the bubonic plague.
Rating:
Summary: Complete Trash
Review: Perhaps the worst book about plants I have ever run across, this ridiculous piece of pseudo-science spouts half-truths, speculation, and 60's phony-spiritual mysticism and calls it "science." It has led to some of the worst science-fair projects I have ever seen, and it has no doubt helped confuse thousands of middle- and high-school children. Spend your money on something else.
Rating:
Summary: licks the bottom of the toilet
Review: Pseudo-science, fantasy, mysticism, fuzziness, all within a hard "OH NOS THE CLOSED-MINDED SCIENTIFIC ESTABLISHMENT IS TRYING TO QUIET THE TRUTH (and God forbid we should expose our fragile plants to controlled, repeatable, verifiable conditions) RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE" shell. I liked this book when I was sixteen, and preferred dreams over reality. Now, with slightly higher standards, I find this book worth little more than the cackles evoked on nearly every page.
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