What a Plant Knows:
A Field Guide to the Senses
AuthorDaniel Chamovitz
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience book, Popular science
PublisherScientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux (U.S.)
Publication date
May 22, 2012 (U.S.)
Pages177 (Paperback edition: April 30, 2013); 201(Revised edition: Nov 21, 2017);

What a Plant Knows is a popular science book by Daniel Chamovitz, originally published in 2012, discussing the sensory system of plants.[1] A revised edition was published in 2017.[2]

Judiciously manipulating similes with dashes of anthropomorphism, Chamovitz introduces each of the vital human senses (all except taste) and explains its meaning for humans as contrasted with its function in plants. There are no noses or eyes as such in the plant world, but there are organs and responses that mimic our physiology. Much like how humans smell food, plants too have chemical receptors that bind to very specific gaseous chemical compounds. The author recounts how willows, attacked by caterpillars, send airborne pheromones to neighboring willows. Warned by these gaseous signals (or “smells”) of a nearby infestation, the neighbors begin manufacturing increased levels of toxic chemicals to render their leaves unpalatable to the caterpillars.[3]

Release details / Editions / Publication

Hardcover edition, 2012[4]
Paperback version, 2013[5]
Revised edition, 2017[6]

What a Plant Knows has been translated and published in a number of languages.[7]

Summary of What a Plant Knows Editions
Language Publisher Publication year notes
English (USA) Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2012 2nd edition 2017
English (UK) One World 2012 2nd edition 2017
English (Australia) Scribe 2012 2nd edition 2017
Japanese Kawade Shobo Shinsha 2012
Chinese (simplified) Beijing Mediatime Books  2012 2nd edition, 2018
Hebrew Matar 2013 2nd edition, 2023
Chinese (complex) Rye Field 2012
German Was Pflanzen wissen: wie sie sehen, riechen und sich erinnern Hanser 2012 2nd edition, 2017
Korean Darun 2013 2nd edition 2019
Croatian Planetopija 2013
Estonian Mida Taim Teab Aripaev 2012
Polish Zmysłowe życie roślin: podreczny atlas zmysłów WAB 2013
Italian Quel che una pianta sa: guida ai sensi nel mondo vegetale Cortina 2013
French La Plante et ses sens Buchet Chastel 2013 2nd edition 2018
Russian Centrepolygraph  2017
Serbian Center for the Promotion of Science 2017
Slovanian ARA Zalozba 2018
Czech Academia 2020
Turkish Metis 2018
Hungarian Park Konyvkiado Kft 2018
Spanish Ariel 2019
Thai Bookscape Publishing House 2024

References

  1. ^ Chamovitz, Daniel (30 April 2013). What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. ISBN 978-0374533885.
  2. ^ Chamovitz, Daniel (2017). What a plant knows : a field guide to the senses (First revised paperback ed.). ISBN 9780374537128.
  3. ^ Graham Jr., Frank (24 July 2012). "Review: What a Plant Knows". Audubon Magazine, July–August 2012.
  4. ^ Chamovitz, Daniel (2012). What a plant knows : a field guide to the senses (1st Hardcover ed.). Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374288730.
  5. ^ Chamovitz, Daniel (2012). What a plant knows : a field guide to the senses (1st Paperback ed.). Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374533885.
  6. ^ Chamovitz, Daniel (2017). What a plant knows : a field guide to the senses (First revised paperback ed.). Scientific American / Farrar, Straus, Giroux. ISBN 9780374537128.
  7. ^ "What A Plant Knows". www.whataplantknows.com. Retrieved 15 October 2019.


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