Albert's Greenhouse

Description

I must have over 200 books on plants, plant people and plant exploration. Here are some of the most useful and interesting: In the 19th century, explorers set out from Europe and found, for the first time, the variety of plant life available in the tropics and the new world. They came back and wrote about it, in their flowery prose. It is absolutely fascinating to read about these plants in the actual words of their discoverers. Most of these books are WAY out of print ... but Google Books has made many of the available, since their copyright has expired. Click on the pictures to read the whole book. Travels on the Amazon by Alfred Wallace Alfred Wallace's adventures as a plant explorer on the Amazon. Co-discoverer with Darwin of the theory of evolution by natural selection, he's one of the most readable victorian writers I've ever seen. Not to say that his later works on mysticism are necessarily worth a read... The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates Alfred Wallace and Henry Bates went together to explore South America and journey up to Amazon in search of natural history curios that they could sell back home in England. This is Bates narrative, written many years after the adventure. It's well written and engaging. The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Wallace More travels, this time in the East. Some would say that it was Wallace's exposure to the tropics in both the east and the west that led him to independantly produce the theory of evolution by natural selection. Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes by Richard Spruce Edited by Wallace, this two volume set gives an idea of the hardships a plant hunter had to endure, and the marvelous things one would see on the Amazon. The Gardens of the Sun by F. W. Burbidge Another victorian account, this time of Borneo. Again, very readable, but difficult to find. Himalayan Journals by Joseph Dalton Hooker JD Hooker , famous botanist, explorer, plant collector and director of Kew, found a lot of plants we take for granted in our landscapes. These are his journals from the Himalayas. Journal of the Right Hon Sir Joseph Banks by Joseph Banks Banks accompanied a joint Royal Navy/Royal Society scientific expedition to the south pacific in 1768-1771, passing by South America, Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia among other places, and describing many plants for the first time. Over 80 species bear his name. He is credited with the introduction to the West of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa, and the genus named after him, Banksia. This is his journal from that Voyage.

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