Why People Need Plants

We live surrounded by the beauty—and the bounty—of the botanical world, but rarely do we stop to think seriously about all the roles plants play, many of them crucial to life on earth. After reading Why People Need Plants, however, we won’t be likely to take the earth’s flora for granted ever again.

Accessible and wide-ranging, Why People Need Plants covers such topics as food production, biofuels, medicine, biodiversity, conservation, economics, genetic modification, and many more—all aimed at demonstrating the importance of plants to nearly every aspect of human life and society. A collaboration between the Open University and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with assistance from the Royal Horticultural Society, the book will inform—and surprise—plant lovers, gardeners, and students of all levels of knowledge.