Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence - Hardcover

"[Brilliant Green] is, like the best science, the product of a powerful imagination, one with the ability to see the world from a completely fresh and unencumbered point of view--and to communicate that perspective to the rest of us. So put aside for a couple of hours your accustomed anthropocentrism, and step into this other, richer and more wonderful world. You won't regret it, and you won't emerge from it ever quite the same again."--From the foreword by Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma," "The Botany of Desire," and other books

"Mancuso advocates for a second Copernican revolution, of sorts. Just as medieval people had to concede that the stars and planets don't orbit Earth, we must accept that the living world doesn't revolve around us."--Maclean's

"Mancuso and Viola blaze a trail of intrigue, to study the seemingly inaccessible, to fathom the unfathomable, to celebrate the essence of life on Earth....This book is nothing short of summer reading that broadens the soul."--San Francisco Book Review

"Brilliant Green.. lays out the case for approaching plants as fellow intelligent life-forms... key insights to fields across the sciences, from botany to robotics."--Boston Globe

"A short primer/manifesto on the history and science of the [plant intelligence movement]."--Salon

"Slim and engaging."--MinnPost

"Referring to ground-breaking scientific studies and historical perspectives, the authors shake up our views of the plant world--one that we are totally dependent on for oxygen and food, and one that we cannot afford to take for granted."--Nexus

"Mancuso may be provocative, but he's not alone and he hasn't been for a long time."--Washington Post

"Brilliant Green... [is a] timely, highly accessible summar[y] of fast-developing fields... Combine[s] a passion for plants and a desire to illustrate their largely unsung complexities with an appreciation of the burden of proof needed to persuade us of a world that contains chlorophyllic sentience."--New Scientist

"A brilliant fusion of historical and modern research, Brilliant Green is a quirky little book can be quickly read, yet it is captivating and eye-opening, and will make you stop and think. The authors' fervor and wit jolt the reader out apathetic anthropocentrism and we awaken in the fascinating world of plant intelligence."--The Guardian's GrrlScientist

Stefano Mancuso is the Director of the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology (LINV) in Florence, Italy, a founder of the International Society for Plant Signaling and Behavior, and a professor at the University of Florence. His books and papers have been published in numerous international magazines and journals, and La Repubblica newspaper has listed him among the twenty people who will change our lives. Alessandra Viola is a scientific journalist, writer of documentaries, and a television scriptwriter. In 2011, she directed the Genoa Science Festival.