Book Description
More mushrooms, less pollution! Yes, you heard right: growing more mushrooms may be the best thing we can do to save the environment. Microscopic cells called "mycelium"—the fruit of which are mushrooms —recycle carbon, nitrogen, and other essential elements as they break down plant and animal debris in the creation of rich new soil. What fungi expert Paul Stamets has discovered is that mycelium also breaks down hydrocarbons —the base structure in many pollutants. So, for instance, when soil contaminated with diesel oil is inoculated with strains of oyster mushroom mycelia, the soil loses its toxicity in just eight weeks. In MYCELIUM RUNNING, Stamets discusses this revolutionary trend in mushroom cultivation and provides tips for choosing the appropriate species of fungi for various environmental purposes.
Customer Reviews:
Mushrooms saving the world?.......2007-10-10
The title suggests that mushrooms can solve the world's problems, and that sounds a little hard to believe. But fact is that the authors put so much knowledge about the growing habits of mushrooms in this book that it can indeed be used to solve problems. For example, the authors mention recovery of burnt areas as well as the absorption of spilled oil.
The book on the whole is impressive and full of knowledge, as wel as beautifully illustrated. Anyone considering to grow mushrooms should read it; and practitioners of permaculture are certainly advised to get this book.
we can save the world.......2007-09-11
This book is so fascinating, if u even have the slightest interest in mushrooms, or any type of fungi then this is the book to get. Paul stamets answers any question anyone would ever have about fungi, and who would have thought that mushrooms, play such an important role in mother nature. You will be stunned by the information in this book. So if u want a good read with lots of facts and lots of very interesting information then this is the book for you.
Should be Required Reading.......2007-07-16
This book is incredible. If more people read this book, there could be an ecological revolution.
The reader will not go a page in this book without a "What?? No Way!!" kind of moment. I found myself laughing simply at how amazingly effective and important mushrooms can be.
Mushrooms can help save the world. "Mycelium Running" should be a high school textbook.
Mushrooms can be interesting........2007-03-24
I took my last science course about 40 years ago and had forgotten how interesting science can be. This book is not light reading and some people will probably not get past the first few pages but I really enjoyed it. I found tons of new information on mushrooms in spite of the fact that I studied mushrooms in college (until my father decided science was not for girls and convinced me to go to Law School. Yep, those were the good old days.) You will enjoy it as long as you take into account that it is a scientific book, perfect for geeks.
Mushrooms as spirit teachers.......2007-01-10
Stamets is THE authority on the power of mushrooms and all the amazing things they can do. From cleaning up toxic oil spills to providing nourishment Stamets clearly writes with passion. I love it and have shared the book with many others, many of whom were blown away!
Book Description
Is Santa Claus really a magic mushroom in disguise? Was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland a thinly veiled psychedelic mushroom odyssey? Did mushroom tea kick-start ancient Greek philosophy?
Much stranger than the fictions it has inspired, the world of the magic mushroom is a place where shamans and hippies rub shoulders with psychiatrists, poets and international bankers. The magic mushroom was rediscovered only fifty years ago but has accumulated all sorts of folktales and urban legends along the way. In this timely and definitive study, Andy Letcher strips away the myths to get at the true story of how hallucinogenic mushrooms, once shunned in the West as the most pernicious of poisons, came to be the illicit drug of choice.
Chronicling the history of the magic mushroom, from its use by the Aztecs of Central America and the tribes of Siberia through to the present day, Letcher takes a critical and humorous look at the drug's more recent manifestations. Since the 1970s scientists and others in major Western nations, the United States and the United Kingdom in particular, have identified hundreds of hallucinogenic species, isolated their active ingredients, learned how to cultivate them on an industrial scale, and spread them around the world. More than any other civilization that has come before us, and despite all the myths we have built, we, by all rights, are the true magic mushroom enthusiasts.
Informative, lively and impeccably researched, Shroom presents a unique and engaging study of this most extraordinary of psychedelic drugs.
Customer Reviews:
Solid research, badly marred by postmodern treatment.......2007-06-09
This is a difficult book to review because it mixes elements that are quite good with others equally bad. It contains a wealth of very interesting material and findings from the author's scholarly studies. But unfortunately, indeed tragically, it lacks the appropriate emphasis of scientific viewpoint in favor of postmodernism, the intellectual fad currently dominant on campus--not in the sciences but in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
Like religious fundamentalism and various New Age preoccupations, postmodernism is aggressively ideological, even totalizing in its ambitions. As such, it has significant difficulties with no-nonsense scientific perspectives, inspiring futile scholarly efforts to undermine the authority and credibility of science. "Shroom" can be seen as an offering in this vein. Its discussion treads water in a sea of postmodern buzzwords, while generating a stream of backhanded insinuations about science (a "drab discipline" as Letcher puts it), and indulging in ad hominem arguments (Letcher dislikes Wasson, whom he seems to view as an archetypal Capitalist bourgeoisie White Male sexist Bad Guy... etc.). To anyone unfamiliar with postmodernism and its anti-scientific orientation, I heartily recommend the book "Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and its Quarrels with Science" by Gross and Levitt; or simply google "transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity."
Still, "Shroom" is not without merit, not by a long shot. This book is to be soundly applauded for some remarkable original discussions of certain aspects of its subject matter, presenting information that will be new to many readers, as it was to me. For example, Letcher illuminates the history of Psilocybe semilanceata and its reputation as no one has before. There are also some new details concerning fly agaric and its cultural history. But one of the most compelling and informative sections of the book addresses the modern history of psilocybin mushrooms, especially in Britain and Holland. Other examples could be cited. The contributions made by Letcher herein should not be understated, especially insofar as they contrast dramatically with the relentless, muddled analysis that accompanies them in its pages. "Shroom" is at its best when it aims to inform rather than analyze, and the wealth of information it offers is of great value, to be appreciated by those interested in this fascinating subject.
On the down side, "Shroom" floats a multitude of red herrings and misconceptions, often under the guise of "debunking" various notions it asserts as erroneous. In many cases, the point is well taken; but in others Letcher unwisely bites off considerably more than he can chew, or misrepresents his targets, attacking cardboard caricatures of his own making. There are far too many such missteps to address in a brief review, and different readers will spot different sticking points. To me, one of the more serious is the idea that "Shroom" has effectively refuted Wasson's identification of Soma as fly agaric. Letcher's discussion of this theory is not an even-handed presentation of the evidence pertaining to it (which is equivocal and complex), but rather a partisan polemic focusing exclusively on arguments against it. In fact, there is significant evidence supporting Wasson's Soma theory, discovered only after he proposed it, which Letcher doesn't even mention. Critics wishing to disprove Wasson's theory must reply to that evidence with better explanations for it, not pretend it doesn't exist while trying to keep the conversation focused on objections (some of which do indeed raise legitimate questions for Wassonian approaches).
Of course, there is nothing wrong with passionately arguing a particular point of view, as Letcher does. But such argumentation is not to be confused with, and must be rigorously distinguished from, efforts toward a balanced, dispassionate search for greater knowledge, regardless of where it leads. Ethnomycology best benefits from the latter approach, compatible as it is with scientific methods. The former approach is responsible for the profusion of "myths" Letcher declaims, and there is irony in the fact that "Shroom" creates some new canards even as it seeks to dispel old ones.
But Letcher's dismissal of Wasson's Soma theory does worse than tiptoe around findings that support it. There is some appearance of chicanery. He first sets it up like just one more duck in a row along with a half dozen or so, baiting the reader who eagerly waits to see how he will shoot it down. He then summarizes various arguments already made against Wasson's theory by others, often agreeing by mere dogmatic assertion ("Brough was right: the situation in Siberia was interesting, but it could have no cultural relevance to Soma whatsoever.") But in the end, disappointingly, Letcher switches. He retreats from the whole question on the grounds that we really can't know for sure--no one can prove with finality what Soma was, and there is consequently no point in trying to identify it, he contends.
Apart from any shell-game tactics, such a position is badly flawed in its logic, as though to claim: "I can't see how we can ever know this, therefore we cannot ever know it" (such reasoning resembles that of the Intelligent Designers who can't see how something as complicated as the eye could have originated by natural selection, and proclaim it is therefore impossible). It seems Letcher fails to comprehend the methods and achievements of science. Scientific knowledge, for whatever limited degrees of objectivity it reaches, is not divine revelation. It is inherently theoretical and tentative in nature, based exclusively on discoveries made so far, with a humble certainty there is a great deal yet to be disclosed to investigation. Scientific understanding can never be chiseled in stone, for it must undergo continual revision to assimilate new discoveries as they are made. The question is never whether we can say something with some kind of absolute certainty, as though proven beyond all possible doubt; it is whether we have good reason to think something might be true or not, based on what we know so far. In that regard, the evidence favoring Wasson's Soma theory is probably just as strong as the evidence against it, perhaps even stronger. That Letcher disagrees with Wasson's theory is all well and good. But he does readers a disservice in suggesting it has been laid to rest, and then washing his hands. There is a critical difference between the detached skepticism of a scientific orientation, and mere personal incredulity, a point lost in the "Shroom" sauce. It seems to me the story Letcher tells of Wasson's Soma theory being dead is, perhaps like the preliminary reports of Samuel Clemens' untimely demise, greatly exaggerated.
Recently, the occult-like or New Age orientation of various popular offerings about psilocybin mushrooms has begun to come under critical fire, as it does here in "Shroom." This is an encouraging development for ethnomycological inquiry, and another good thing about "Shroom" as others have noted. But so far, not many critics have taken stock of trendy postmodern orthodoxy as an equally formidable obstacle to better understanding in this field. Ethnomycology is an inherently multidisciplinary subject, as Wasson well understood. As such it thrives on sound input from disciplines outside the sciences. But it also requires a solidly scientific foundation to theoretically integrate such input. It's hard to see how postmodernism, with its bizarre, empty jargon and antagonism toward science, can contribute usefully in this regard. The problems evident in "Shroom" appear to relate mostly to the author's postmodern framework. With this caveat, I nonetheless recommend the book heartily to anyone interested. (For that matter, if you think everything is a "social construct," and science is simply a socially sanctioned "discourse" cunningly conceived to advance the political hegemony of the dominant class, and like to read about "praxes" and "alterity" and--etc.--you might find this book's analysis more worthy of your time and interest than this reviewer did.)
What a Trip.......2007-06-05
We have healing drugs and then we have drugs that are taken just for fun. We recognize that drugs have a legitimate function of providing fun by making some such drugs legal, but some drugs for fun are left illegal. Hallucinogenic mushrooms, for instance, are generally illegal, although this changes from time to time and from society to society. You'd expect that a history of "shrooms" written by a fellow who has played in various psychedelic bands (currently in his own "acid folk group") would come down strongly in favor of legal mushrooms, but Andy Letcher is no ordinary shroomer. He has a couple of doctorates, one in ecology and one in religious and cultural studies, for instance. His _Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom_ (Ecco) is not a manifesto, although Letcher does explain the possible advantages of the experiences mushrooms might offer if they were more legally accessible. More importantly, Letcher cuts the legs out from under the legends that have grown up about mushrooms, the ancientness of their use, and their connections with religion and power (a "fantastical history... dreamed up on the basis of wishful thinking and overworked evidence.") A sizeable book resulting from a great deal of research, _Shroom_ is the sort of one-subject history that takes in a lot of general history and presents it all with an accessible and witty style. I don't know if shrooms help produce _Shroom_, but if so, it might be good to have more of them.
Mushrooms do, perhaps more than other recreational drugs, promote mystical experiences that are highly valued by practitioners. Advocates have insisted that mushroom experiences will lead users in a spiritual direction; Letcher disagrees, and also disagrees with the New Age stories of mushroom "history". A great deal of the fun of his book has to do with debunking of such stories, which come from many varied sources. Witches, druids, and even Santa Claus have been said to spring from mushroom use, or mushrooms were the magical Soma that is cited in the ancient Hindu text the Rig Veda. Perhaps Jesus was dining on not bread and wine with his disciples, but fly-agaric, and perhaps Christianity was an invented religion based on a fertility cult with one true sacrament, fly-agaric. Perhaps the ancient mushroom cult is the one ur-religion from which all others are based. It is fun to read about these wide-ranging ideas, and it is fun to read Letcher taking the air out of each one. "The history of the magic mushroom," he writes, "is at once less fanciful and far more interesting." In fact, the West has no real shroom tradition. Psilocybin mushrooms were known six hundred years ago, but they were treated as poisons. People in Europe and America did not start gobbling them for their psychedelic effects until the middle of the twentieth century, when the astonishing (and then legal) effects of LSD and mescaline were under scientific investigation.
Some of the users mentioned here are famous, like Aldous Huxley, Robert Graves, or Timothy Leary. One more obscure but actually more influential figure was the fascinating Gordon Wasson, who was a vice president at J. P. Morgan & Company and had mushrooms as a hobby. He was introduced to psychedelic mushrooms by a shaman in Mexico, and wrote the 1957 article "Seeking the Magic Mushroom" for _Life_ magazine. It was Wasson who proposed that Soma was fly-agaric, and that there had been a mushroom cult in Europe as well as Siberia. His flawed ideas about ancient mushroom religions caused countless hippies to turn into academics and vice versa. Shrooms were briefly legal in Britain due to a loophole recently closed, but the data from Holland where they are still available indicate that usage is up, although very few take mushroom trips more than once or twice in their lives. Letcher, a Britton, is in favor of decriminalization, but it seems to be true in Britain as well as in the US: "In the current climate, where any call for decriminalization is met with a barrage of invective from the tabloid press, and an unseemly political tussle to occupy the moral high ground, such a move would seem a long way off." Instead, readers can enjoy some thrilling and colorful accounts of trips given here, most of them quite colorful and fascinating, but also there is the possibly apocryphal tale of the young woman who called an emergency number because she was convinced, after eating an extremely potent mushroom variety, that she had turned into a banana and was scared someone was about to peel her. For sharp and funny writing, and debunking of mythology, _Shroom_ is a trip worth taking.
Nice attempt at a juxtaposed position. .......2007-04-08
Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom by Andy Letcher, 2006
Shroom is an interesting theory against the "mushroom theory of religion." Letcher brings together many new insights and material previously overlooked by many researching the field of entheobotany, and especially entheomycology. This book is a must read and a welcome tome to any good library on this subject.
But there are many problems with Letcher's thesis. Firstly, he props up many of his arguments by ignoring most of the newer research, and especially archaeological iconography, that has come to light post Wasson/Allegro. His argument focuses heavily on Wasson, McKenna and Allegro. And in his case against Allegro, all but one of the items he presents as evidence are bogus rumors that have already been debunked by Judith Anne Brown, Michael Hoffman and I since 2005.
He's completely dismissive of the idea of mushrooms in Christianity but only by attacking the shallowest of evidence, such as the Plaincourault issue, while simultaneously ignoring enormous amounts of evidence contradictory to his theory, i.e. The Canterbury Psalter c.e. 1147, art from Abbey of Montecassino, circa 1072, amongst many others such as those published by Giorgio Samorini in Entheos Magazine. In fact, on page 173 in his supposed debunking of Clark Heinrich, instead of attacking Heinrich's research directly, Letcher bases his dissent on a mushroom experience Heinrich speaks about in his book. Weak and lazy tactics like these may fool some, but it's not going to fool anyone who has any serious amount of study in these areas. He also misquotes Heinrich and states that Heinrich built his research into Christianity from Allegro. However, on pg. 25 of Heinrich's book, it clearly states that he used Wasson's research.
Letcher similarly avoids iconographic evidence in the same way toward mushrooms in Hinduism, completely ignoring carvings and statues that clearly depict the mushrooms. See Hari Hari holding a mushroom, Rama and Hanuman Holding Mushrooms, etc., 700-800 C.E.
Letcher also missed the fact that most of the arguments today are for an entheogen theory, not just a specific `mushroom cult theory of religion' per se. Letcher erroneously focuses his research on debunking a single mushroom cult theory. However, many of us in this field have long ago moved away from any such argument. In fact, I don't really know anyone who proposes such a singularly focused theory except for Allegro, and maybe Wasson - and both of their pioneering arguments are near four decades old. For those interested in more information on this specific area, read Michael Hoffman's article on the Maximal Entheogen Theory of Religion - www.egodeath.com.
Letcher is certainly guilty of trying to make his evidence fit his argument, and throughout this book he blames other researchers for doing the same. I feel that he has likely painted himself into a corner with his words on pg. 78:
"The Western rediscovery of Mexican mushrooming practices began, ironically, with a vigorous scholarly denial that they had ever existed."
He then goes into the story of William Safford:
"...American botanist William Safford (1859-1926), oblivious of such shenanigans so close to home, published a paper on the identity of the supposed teonanacatl of the Aztecs in which he stated emphatically that Sahagun and his native informants had been wrong. They had mistakenly confused dried plant fragments for a fungus, and teonanacatl, revealed Safford, had been none other than the infamous peyote cactus [...]. ... Safford reported that `three centuries of investigation [had] failed to reveal an endemic fungus used as an intoxicant in Mexico'. He bolstered his argument by claiming that peyote `resembles a dried mushroom so remarkably that at first glance it will even deceive a trained mycologist'. He was wrong on both accounts."
Being that Letcher omitted so much of the archaeological evidence available to make his case, I couldn't avoid the obvious comparison that much of Letcher's theory will soon see a similar fate (if it hasn't already). His modern mushroom religion theory mirrors that of Safford.
Lastly, a contradictory and completely dangerous comparison is made in the book to something he admits is non-toxic, psilocybe mushrooms, to something very dangerous as sniffing glue:
"In Mice the LD50, that is the dose at which 50 per cent of the experimental subjects die, is 280 mg/kg of body weight, but a high dose in humans in only 0.5 mg/kg. With such a low toxicity it has been estimated that you would have to eat your own body weight in mushrooms to take a lethal dose, and indeed the are no reported cases of fatalities from psilocybin mushrooms, though children may be more at risk of physical harm." Pg. 20-21
"... magic mushrooms were a convenient, illicit and exciting way of making life under Tory rule more tolerable, no better or worse than sniffing glue..."
Pg. 244
Despite the books obvious problems, overall, I say buy it, read it, study it.
4 out of 5 stars.
Partial critical engagement with entheogen theory of religious origins.......2007-04-02
Shroom covers topics including refutation of the mushroom theory of the origin of religion, the recent U.K. psilocybin mushroom scene, a critical treatment of Wasson's research methodology and mushroom theory of Vedic religion, and Tim Leary as backdrop leading up to the later popular use of psilocybin mushrooms. This is a valuable book that contributes some new perspectives and new coverage of entheogens in Western culture; this book is a must-have for entheogen researchers. The present review focuses exclusively on his critique of the mushroom theory of religious origins, which he sometimes treats as though it is a critical refutation of the overall entheogen theory of religion.
Letcher has not disproved the entheogen theory of religion, or even fully engaged with that hypothesis. At most, he has made a partial effort to call into question the mushroom theory of the pre-historical origin of religion, in the form of a secret cult spreading from a single origin over time and across regions. Letcher often comes across triumphally as having disproved the entheogen theory of the origin of religion, but a careful reading of his treatment of that particular topic shows that he has actually only shown something far narrower ; he has only refuted a highly specific point.
At most, Letcher's treatment of the entheogen theory of religious origins shows that we have no compelling archaeological evidence for a prehistorical mushroom cult that was secret and unbroken. When his rhetorical verbiage and his general discussions of history are put aside, the substance of his argumentation that remains does not amount to a compelling argument against the frequent use of mushrooms (or other visionary plants) throughout religious history.
Letcher's writing style is rhetorical, so that he tells the story of recent mushroom scholarship and culture well, presenting much of interest to the audience, including valuable new material. He uses a biased rhetorical style; for example, "lunatic fringe", "conspiracy theories", "unfounded speculations", "the myth" of the entheogen origin of religion. This charged rhetorical style obscures that fact that his argument for his refutation of the entheogen theory of the origin of religion rests on only a few, fleetingly discussed points of argument.
Letcher does not engage the bulk of the literary and artistic evidence that provide sufficient grounds to support the general entheogen theory of religious origins. He merely puts forth brief and rather arbitrary arguments dismissing a couple of the many depictions of mushrooms in Christian art.
Letcher's inadequate selection of cases to refute, and his brief, perfunctory treatment of these cases, is not sufficient in breadth or depth to compell adherents of various variants of the entheogen theory of the origins of religion to change their position, no matter how many times or how confidently he rhetorically dubs the theory as a "myth". For example, he would need to engage the range of art that is presented in the first three issues of Entheos magazine, and the range of arguments such as those presented in Giorgio Samorini's articles about Christian mushroom trees.
It's admirable to see an independent critical thinker comment on selected aspects of Allegro and Wasson, but only a few of those comments actually amount to engaging with the evidence for the general entheogen theory of the origin of religion. Letcher makes the risky move of overextending his specific focus on psychoactive mushrooms, at the expense of being under-informed on the general entheogen theory and the full range of arguments, interpretive frameworks, systems of assumptions, and evidence of various types in support of that broad-ranging theory.
As a thought-experiment with the hypothesis that normalized religious cultic use of mushrooms is only a few decades old, this aspect of the book is a valuable contribution to the field; however, Letcher switches inconsistently between that bold but narrow hypothesis and a broader, firm conclusion that the entheogen theory of religion altogether is merely a recent fabrication of popular scholarship and merely wishful thinking.
Letcher leaps from what he narrowly demonstrates, to a stance and a claim to have shown convincingly that the entheogen theory of religious origins (and fairly frequent entheogen use throughout religious history) is nothing but recent wishful thinking, a fabrication by a group that is a historical novelty: late 20th Century psychedelics enthusiasts, including mushroom enthusiasts in the U.K. from 1976-2006.
All theories involve a framework of assumptions. The fact that a scholarly theory uses a set of unproved assumptions does not instantly do away with (or "demolish") the theory. Letcher handles the evidence by the common strategy of dividing, isolating, and diminishing each piece of evidence in isolation, operating under the arbitrary silent assumption that entheogen use was rare, secretive ("conspiracy"), and deviant. But such a methodology is problematic and is controverted by the maximal entheogen theory of religion, which holds that Western history and Western culture have always been inspired to some extent by the ongoing practice of using visionary plants. The unavoidable question remains, "How are we to judge what is plausible and what was normal for that culture?"
Should we assume that the use of visionary plants was normal and significantly present throughout mainstream religion and culture, or that it was rare, a secretive conspiracy, and deviant (exceptional)? Selecting our assumptions about the backdrop, of what was normal in a culture, affects the validity of completely isolating each piece of potential evidence and then attempting to judge the plausibility of reading that piece of evidence as supporting the entheogen theory of religion. What seems plausible to a critical scholar depends on the backdrop of what we assume was normal in the culture.
For example, Letcher affirms that the cathedral door at Hildesheim, Germany depicts the tree of knowledge in the shape that "looks extremely like a giant Liberty Cap", but he argues that it cannot have meant a Liberty Cap, because the doors were carefully designed and the depiction cannot have been secret in that case, so the image cannot represent anything other than, or in addition to, a "stylized fig tree".
It doesn't occur to Letcher to imagine and address the obvious critical arguments and questions against his hasty discussion, such as: why assume that a mushroom allusion had to be secret? why is an officially designed depiction of a mushroom automatically ruled out as unthinkable? why was the fig tree stylized in the specific form of a Liberty Cap mushroom? what about the hundreds of other specifically psilocybin mushroom-shaped trees in Christian art?
Letcher has much homework to do if he wants to try to retain his hypothesis that psychoactive mushrooms were absent from Western religious history until the late 20th Century, and if he intends to convince critical entheogen scholars of that hypothesis -- a hypothesis that will be hard to maintain after seriously addressing, with responses to at least the most obvious counter-criticisms, the current full range of artistic evidence (post-Wasson and post-Allegro), which Letcher has barely engaged.
A Welcome Complement to Pinchbeck.......2007-03-25
Andy Letcher's Shroom is an excellent history of the magic mushroom (mostly A. muscaria, P. semilanceata, and P. cubensis). Most of what one finds in psychedelic literature is idiotic speculation - from Timothy Leary's fantasy that if only enough people would take LSD we'd have world peace to Terence McKenna's arbitrary math with which he claims some sort of apocalypse in 2012. Thankfully, Letcher's history is sober. His central thesis is that the mushroom is in fact a drug that has only recently become popular and that there is little or no evidence for the use of mushrooms for mystical experiences outside of the modern context. He discusses Siberian shamanism, Mexican healing practices, accidental poisonings in Europe, and the modern explosion of mushroom use from Wasson through Psilocybe Fanaticus.
I have a few complaints, but these are not enough to reduce my rating of the book. First, his prose is awkward at times, and his diction can be irritating: the word "preternatural" seems to crop its head up in all sorts of strange contexts. Second, he misunderstands or simplifies certain concepts in post-structuralism, especially the idea of the ethnic "other." And finally, though Shroom is intended as a history, he should have spend more time on the cultural context and phenomenological experiences of magic mushroom use. He claims, for instance, that there was a shift from seeing the mushroom as poisonous to seeing it as mystical. There are some intriguing examples of the 19th Century perception of the mushroom as affecting the nervous system negatively, and this seems like a wonderful opportunity for Letcher to apply some of his cultural studies training to analyze the discourse surrounding the mushroom experience, but he ignores it completely.
I would suggest this book as a companion to Pinchbeck's Breaking Open the Head. Pinchbeck's book is a New Journalism-style exploration of the current use of psychedelic drugs, and it complements Letcher's book because Letcher doesn't discuss the use and interpretation of the psilocybin experience by contemporary psychonauts. I would, however, caution readers away from Pinchbeck's newer book 2012; it's one more contribution to the inane speculation about psychedelics for which Letcher's book is an effective antidote.
Customer Reviews:
The Divine Mushroom........2006-02-21
_SOMA: Divine Mushroom of Immortality_, No. 1 in the Ethno-mycological Studies series, by maverick investment banker turned ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson is a fascinating account of the role played by the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) in the religious development of the Indo-European (Aryan) peoples. Wasson, who wrote extensively on the role of hallucinogenic mushrooms, developed a fascination with the mushroom when he and his wife Valentina Pavlovna, a Russian pediatrician, came upon some wild mushrooms and noticed their entirely different response to the mushrooms. Wasson who was of Western European ancestry was a natural mycophobe; however, his wife, a Russian, picked the mushrooms and later used them in her food. Together Wasson and Valentina Pavlovna wrote a book detailing their experiences with the mushroom called _Mushrooms, Russia & History_. Wasson also was to undergo a hallucinatory experience with a shaman in Mexico leading to his writing about the role of the hallucinogenic mushroom in Mesoamerica.
This book principally discusses the role of the hallucinogenic mushroom in the writings of the earliest Indo-Europeans (Aryans), in the Rg Veda (as Soma) and the Zend Avesta (of the Zoroastrians, as Haoma). This book also discusses the role of the fly agaric in Europe, Eurasia, and Siberia among the shamans there. The book is divided into three parts, "Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality" which outlines the role of the fly agaric as Soma in primitive Indo-European religion, "The Post-Vedic History of the Soma Plant" written by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty which explains various theories concerning the origins of soma in the Rg Veda, and "Northern Eurasia and the Fly-Agaric" which explains the role of the fly agaric among shamans in Siberia as well as in Northern Europe. The book concludes with a series of exhibits from various writings concerning both the fly agaric in Siberia, the linguistic aspects of the fly agaric, and the theory that the fly agaric was the source of the beserk rage of the Scandinavian warriors.
The first section of the book discusses the role of the fly agaric as "soma" in the Rg Veda, the earliest Aryan writings. The author traces the evidence and attempts to show that indeed the soma mentioned in the Rg Veda that was later mysteriously lost was the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). The author shows evidence in the form of "roots, leaves, blossoms, and seeds of soma", all referring to aspects of the divine mushroom. The author also discusses the role of the fly agaric as the "haoma" mentioned in the Zend Avesta of Zoroaster. In addition, the author mentions the two forms of soma, the first as the mushroom consumed and the second as the urine of an individual who has eaten the mushroom, retaining the hallucinogenic properties of the mushroom. The author also discusses the role of the hallucinogenic mushroom among the Manichaeans and various other early heretical sects. In particular, he notes the Christian revulsion for the mushroom eaters, as can be seen in the writings of Saint Augustine who originally was involved in Manichaeanism. The author also discusses the role of the hallucinogenic mushroom among the Chinese, where it became known as the "divine mushroom of immortality" among the Taoists. This section contains many beautiful pictures illustrating the mushroom in folklore and tradition as well as pictures of the fly agaric itself in its natural environment.
The second section of the book written by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty relates the various theories which have been proposed to explain the origin of soma. Among others the author discusses theories that linked soma to alcohol and to bhang (marijuana) in ancient Persia. The author relates the development of these theories among Europeans as they sought to understand primitive Indo-European origins in the Nineteenth Century.
The third section of the book discusses the mushroom in Siberia among the shamans, but also the mushroom in Europe. The author notes the practice of the shamans of drinking the urine of an individual who had consumed the hallucinogenic mushroom. He also argues contrary to the beliefs of the comparativist Mircea Eliade that drug use among shamans does not represent a form of decadence and degeneration. Among the Europeans, the author notes the mycophobic tendencies of Western Europeans, arguing that they refer to the mushroom as the "toadstool" and look upon it with disgust. The frog and the snake are also seen as symbols associated with the mushroom and have traditionally been viewed as evil creatures. In contrast, Victorians came to see the toad as a benign creature. The author argues that the mushroom played no role in the development of the Celtic peoples and among the Germans. He also suggests that contrary to a thesis advanced by certain others that the beserk rage of the Scandinavian warriors was not linked to the fly agaric. In addition, while presenting a picture of an early Christian fresco depicting a "mushroom tree" in the Garden of Eden, the author argues that this is not the hallucinogenic mushroom and that the early Christians were not a mushroom cult. There is little reason to think that the Tree of Knowledge represented the hallucinogenic mushroom.
The book concludes with various exhibits from the writings of different individuals referencing the Siberian use of the mushroom. The author also exhibits writings showing the controversy surrounding the alleged use of the mushroom among Scandinavian warriors. Interestingly, during the Second World War, it was rumored that certain Russian soldiers partook of the mushroom in order to provoke battle lust amongst them.
This book provides a fascinating account of the "divine mushroom of immortality". It is an important contribution to our understanding of primitive religion and the role that hallucinogenic substances play in the development of that belief.
Ian Myles Slater on A New Beginning for an Old Problem.......2003-09-25
This is the now classic attempt to identify the mysterious god / plant / substance of the Sanskrit Vedas as the fly agaric mushroom, a fungus known to have mood-altering hallucinogenic properties when properly prepared and consumed. Wasson argues that the cryptic descriptions of the Soma can be explained by the shape and colors of the mushroom, while its effects explain its association with divine powers, and its use in the sacrificial rituals to contact the gods. The conclusion has been widely accepted, and bitterly disputed, with a number of opponents returning, armed with new information, to earlier proposals.
The earlier views are the subject of a substantial section of this thick volume, a survey of the nineteenth and twentieth century literature by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, who is now writing as Wendy Doniger. In later writings, Doniger has supported more strongly Wasson's conclusion that Soma was originally a fungus, although admitting to some uncertainty as to which fungus, and to whether the sacred species might have shifted with time and availability. This survey is in itself a useful reference, and Doniger's translations of the some of the Rig-Veda Soma Hymns in her selection from "The Rig-Veda" for the Penguin Classics is a helpful companion as well.
(For the full set of such hymns, I know of only one English version, R.T.H. Griffith's aging complete translation of the Rig Veda -- second edition 1896 -- which, among other problems, accepted Max Mueller's identification of Soma with the Ephedra plant. The theory would make more sense if the species Mueller named was in fact the pharmacologically active Ma Huang variety, instead of just a relative.)
The whole issue is confused by difficulty of disentangling references to Soma as a ritual substance used in offerings to the Devas (the gods), as a substance the control of which was disputed by the Devas and their rivals the Asuras (roughly Titans, relatives and, mostly, enemies of the gods), and as a god itself, sometimes identical with the Moon. As such it forms a parallel to Agni, the fire-god, which is sometimes the actual sacrificial fire, sometimes an abstraction of it, and sometimes a deity with its own myths and cult.
Anyone interested in the subject of "entheogens" (a term coined after the appearance of Wasson's study, and in part as a response to it) should definitely read this book carefully, not least because it is so frequently quoted, quoted out of context, misquoted, and misrepresented -- and I am only talking about those who claim to agree with it.
So far as I am aware, there is still room for a major study, by someone other than an declared opponent of Wasson's thesis, of how closely the older Iranian material on "Haoma" (the expected, and documented, equivalent of the Sanskrit name) does or does not parallel the Vedic texts. It is possible, at least in theory, that more than one plant served the function, and received the name, in the period of Indo-Iranian linguistic unity. (The on-line "Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies" offered a series of articles on aspects of the problem in 2002-2003, which are available in pdf format; some fairly technical, but with up-to-date bibliograpy.)
I would add that while I sympathize with Wasson's endorsement of orthodox Hindu hostility toward alcohol, which already appears in the Vedic texts, it seems quite clear that fermented drinks also filled the ideological role of Soma in other Indo-European cultures. For example, a serious modern comparison of the Indra's theft or recovery of Soma from the Asuras, with the aid of, or in the shape of, an eagle, to Odin's theft of the Mead of Poetry from the Giants, in the form of an eagle, is greatly to be desired. Especially if it is undertaken by a scholar with a full command of the diverse versions of the myth in Indian literature, and an open approach to modern theories of mythic narrative.
Entheogens: Professional Listing.......1999-05-03
"Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy." http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy
Customer Reviews:
An interesting read.......2007-09-28
This is a detailed and fun book. It's probably what you're looking for. It contains clear descriptions, many quality pictures, suggestions about variations among species, safety considerations, and a helpful rating scale of very low to very high potency, also making it clear when the potency is unknown. For me, I chose to partner this book with a larger book which includes all species, just so I'm clear what I'm looking at and for, especially when it comes to ingestion, better to be extra careful, right?
Completes the collection.......2007-09-02
Most mushroom guides don't include these specimens, so a good addition to your field guides....
Why this book is vital to humanity as a whole.......2006-06-12
So many people are utterly consumed with their work life that they are avidly avoiding a spiritual experience, which is at the heart of what is ideal. This book may help serve as a gentlemenly guide to embarking on an organized hunt for fungi and an organized understanding of how to incorporate them into personal experience. Although some may argue with me, I would say this is actually high level reading.
The book provides the following:
The effects of psilocybin mushrooms
How to identify them while hunting outdoors
Tips on ingesting them and experiencing them
Pictures and diagrams to help identify them
Individual species descriptions
Poisonous look alikes
Includes a forward by renowned physician Dr. Andrew Weil
There is a wealth of info in this book and it is the best book on this subject.
This is the one..........2006-05-18
...you're looking for. I've read a few books on the subject. If you want to hunt with confidence, than here ya' go.
Outstanding guide by one of the world's leading mycologists.......2005-03-04
This lavishly photo-illustrated and smoothly-written book details all of the psilocybin-containing mushrooms generally known up to the date of publication, including those outside of the species Psilocybe and some extremely rare ones known only from a single location or from a single event (sometimes mysterious magic mushrooms crop up after storms but are never seen again unless spores are taken from them and grown under controlled conditions).
Stamets explains the often-conflicting taxonomy of Psilocybe mushrooms (one species, for example, received two different names because two writing teams who had travelled together wrote it up separately -- one published first and *their* name has "priority," even though some people use the name given by the other team; despite the name difference the mushroom described is the same species).
Stamets is no prude. He writes quite bluntly about psilocybin-containing mushrooms (including his own tripping on them), and he is EXTREMELY (and justly) critical of other mycologists who not only refuse to describe such mushrooms, but, in one case Stamets cites, have said that it is better for people to die from eating poisonous mushrooms than for people to be able to safely identify psilocybin-containing mushrooms! Stamets gives descriptions and photos of poisonous look-alike mushrooms and gives a step-by-step identification procedure for the psilocybin 'shrooms. In most cases identification is straightforward and can be done within a few minutes; in other cases look-alikes can be lethal and suspect mushrooms have to be carefully gone over to avoid poisoning.
One extemely curious phenomenon which Stamets describes are cases in which people have "tripped" on mushrooms which are generally considered non-poisonous and which were from species which are not supposed to contain *any* psychoactive chemicals; Stamets speculates that if these cases are genuine, they may represent instances in which the biochemistry of one individual reacted in a completely unpredictable and near-unique way to a "normal" mushroom. (I have heard of some people whose bodies can *naturally* manufacture ethanol from the ordinary sugars in food in sufficient quantites to become drunk without ever having consumed liquid alcohol; these freak instances of people tripping on non-pyshoactive mushrooms may represent something similar -- rare individuals whose bodies can convert innocuous chemicals into psychoactive ones; since the reported cases have been people who didn't intend to eat a magic mushroom in the first place, and who have probably sworn off mushroom eating forever as a result of their experience, the likelihood of a repeat occurence with a given individual is probably close to zero. Still, the fact that such an unexpected event has occurred at all underscores a couple of points which Stamets makes again and again: don't eat any wild mushroom which you have not positively identified, and don't gorge yourself on a species which you *have* identified until you have taken a small sample to see how your own body reacts to them.)
One interesting feature of the book is an estimate of the relative potency of psilocybin-containing mushrooms and an explanation of why some cultivated mushrooms differ widely in potency even though they belong to the same species. Some members of the species Psilocybe actually don't contain any psilocybin at all, but apparently all members of the species either taste bad or are too chewy to be used for food, even the non-psychoactive ones.
The only weakness of the book is that it does not contain a section describing the numerous cultivated varieties of P. cubensis, which vary greatly in appearance and growing requirements (and, according to the vendors, at least) in potency. Many of these varieties have doubtless "gone wild" (Stamets says that the grounds of universities and the outside of courthouses are two of the best places to hunt "wild" psilocybin mushrooms!), but there is only one listing for the species with photos of what are presumably wild varities not derived from artificial selection by growers.
Stamets is a true fan of mushrooms and his commercial website (he doesn't sell psilocybin mushrooms, by the way) gives examples of how mushrooms can be used in bioremediation of polluted lands and used to improve the yields of crops. Stamets points out that one of the best places to look for wild muchrooms is on land which has just been hit by a storm or where humans have just ravaged it to put up or tear down a building. Although Stamets has not gone as far off the deep end as did Terrence McKenna and his brother (writing under their own names or as "Ott and Osric"), it is apparent that he, like many other partakers of magic mushrooms, believes them to be a vital part of Gaia and their spread by humans to be part of planetary evolution. As a simple example, those hunting for "magic" mushrooms will (whether deliberately or not) carry magic mushroom spores back from where they are found, but they will also carry the spores of other species which grow nearby and are, in their turn, vital ecological components even if they aren't psychoactive: just growing *near* a psychoactive mushroom gives other mushrooms an evolutionary advantage as their spores are dispersed by primates anxious to go tripping but whose hair or fur or clothes brush against other species of mushroom and carry their spores to another location. It becomes easy to see why some people believe that psychoactive mushrooms (especially the Psilocybe species) have co-evolved with humans as a means to enhance the biosphere of Gaia.
I give this book five well-deserved stars. I know of know other book which contains so much information about magic mushroom history and mycology and provides such clear-cut and easy to follow steps for identifying the psilocybin-containg species. If nothing else it is beautiful to look at. *****
Book Description
Stinkhorns, puffballs, the "corpse finder," deadly Galerina, Satan's bolete, birch conks, black mold, the old man of the woods--the world of fungi is infinitely varied and not a little weird. Now, in Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard, Nicholas Money introduces readers to a dazzling array of fungi, from brewer's yeast and Penicillium to the highly lethal death cap. We learn of Madurella, which can erode bones until they look moth-eaten; Cordyceps, which wracks insects with convulsions, kills them, then sends a stalk out of the insect's head to release more infectious spores; and Claviceps, the poisonous ergot fungus, which causes hallucinations. Money also showcases the lives of famed mycologists--including Reginald Buller who wore horse blinders as he walked to work, the better to study luminescent fungi in his dark lab, and Charles Tulasne, the Audubon of fungi, whose illustrations of specimens border on art. And he recounts his own childhood introduction to fungi in Mr. Bloomfield's orchard, where trees and fruit were devoured by a rogue's gallery of bitter rot, canker, rust, powdery mildew, rubbery wood, and scab. Replete with historical photographs and simple yet effective illustrations, told with a refreshing sense of humor,Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard will fascinate anyone interested in the natural world.
Customer Reviews:
Intriguing Look at Fungi and Molds - Absolutely Fascinating.......2007-04-29
I had never considered mycology, the study of mushrooms, molds, and fungi, to be particularly interesting, once again demonstrating how wrong I can be. I had trouble breaking away from this oddly titled book, Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard. The author, Nicholas P. Money, a research mycologist, has an infectious enthusiasm and a delightful sense of humor, as well as that rare ability to create exceptional science literature for the educated reader.
Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard is more challenging than most popular science books; it is sufficiently detailed to make ideal supplementary reading for biology undergraduate students. I can well imagine that Money's book will be responsible for a surge in applicants to mycology graduate programs.
I was especially fascinated by the complex life cycle of various molds and fungi, their incredible resistance to extreme temperatures, toxic chemicals, and radioactivity, and their remarkable ability to draw upon a seemingly endless set of enzymes to digest their surroundings, whatever that might be. A particular fungus that kills grass on the golf course and never feeds on animals in the wild, has demonstrated the innate capability to consume animal tissue when isolated in the lab from vegetative matter. Money speculates that this remarkable adaptability of molds and fungi offers profound insights into their long evolutionary history, some 3.5 billion years. It somehow seems fitting that there are indeed molds that specialize in consuming other molds.
Money injects humor, and occasional social comment, into his account of fungi and friends. He mentions for example: A black mold is working on a shampoo bottle in my shower, which is ironic because the contents are supposed to possess antifungal properties that suppress dandruff (this fungus is in for a surprise if it breaks through the plastic).
Five stars for Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard - The Mysterious World of Mushrooms, Molds, and Fungi.
Fantastic Book!.......2006-08-09
Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard is far and away the best introduction to the science of mycology for general audience readers and mycology devotees alike. Nicholas Money has a way with words, and his dry sense of humor makes this book a pleasure to read. The one-star review on this page by "Johnny" represents a misguided interpretation of Money's irreverence. The book is certainly NOT racist, and Money makes fun of Western cultures with equal wit (incidentally, I am a Chinese American--one who has studied racist discourse and Orientalism).
An Unhappy Reader.......2006-07-27
Here is a direct quote from page 6 of the book: "...it is a tragedy in a country as populous as China that anything from tiger turds to whale afterbirths can be sold as long as the suggestion is made that their consumption enhances erectile function." What racist garbage! Here is another Eurocentric writer making judgements on another culture. It reminds me of the explorers on Darwin's Beagle who tried to "civilize" the Tierra del Fuego "savages".
I am disappointed that Oxford University Press would allow such ignorant comments to be published in a book whose primary audience is "educated" people. It is sickening that a book like this is published without anyone questioning the appropriateness of such offensive remarks.
I'm sorry, but I put the book away after reading the first chapter, and I am sorry that I wasted $14.95.
Another World Close at Hand.......2004-09-20
The fungus world is all around us, like the world of bacteria. Several books have been recently published on these strange organisms and each has a slightly different slant on them. Actually the very term "fungus" has undergone an evolutionary change over the last few decades. Once part of the plant kingdom, fungi, minus several groups like slime molds and chytrids (although all are still covered in classes on mycology), now enjoy the status of their own kingdom. And a very weird kingdom it is indeed! Nicholas Money from the Department of Botany at Miami University in Ohio has, in his book "Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard," produced a fascinating set of essays on these organisms and the people who study them, from Ingoldian spores to John Webster and the phallic fungi.
As a former resident of Gainesville, Florida, I was quite interested in his chapter on "Angels of Death." In it Money writes that he found Amanita virosa growing near Cedar Key in an area I used to frequent during my days as a graduate student. The destroying angel is a very dangerous mushroom that should be avoided at all costs as it usually kills anyone so unfortunate to eat it. Money's description of these and other fungi that produce nasty toxins certainly gives one pause.
Other topics include the rather bizarre sex life of fungi, and the numerous fungal parasites and symbionts associated with humans. Finally the author gives us an equally fascinating description of Mr. Bloomfield's orchard, an untended apple orchard consumed by fungi.
If you think that fungi don't matter, Money will change your mind, but if you are a bit put off by the subject don't read this book or your curiosity just might hook you into the Alice in Wonderland world of these "simple" organisms! In any case I recommend this book with only minor stylistic reservations. I slightly prefer Hudler's "Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds" for style, but this is just personal taste and has little bearing on content.
Wow!.......2003-06-18
Wow! I never thought Iýd enjoy a book on fungi this much. Parts of it are not a particularly easy read, but the information it contains is mind blowing. Forget terrorists; if fungi and mold decided to take out the human race it would be no contest.
We tend not to think of fungi as being a very important part of our world. We might occasionally have mushrooms on pizza or steak, we might notice fungi growing on an old tree or on something that has been kept too long in the refrigerator, but thatýs about it. In fact fungi has a vast influence in our world, from breaking down fallen trees in the forest to making our bread and beer. Have you ever wondered how dandruff was formed? Guess what plays a major role.
The writer, who presents often bizarre information with wit and style, reminds us that one fungi, covering 2000 acres in Oregon, is thought to be the worldýs largest living organism. Even the more prosaic information comes to life in this book - I enjoyed his description of the speed a spore is catapulted from a gill.
Some of the most interesting sections are the mini-biographies of scientists who have researched fungi and added to our knowledge of them. There was Buller, for instance, a professor whose students called him ýUncle Reggieý, and Ingold who found a totally unknown kind of fungus in water. There are now over 300 species of Ingoldian fungi known and in fall you can find about 20,000 of them in every litre of brook water.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in the natural world. Youýll need to expend a little effort reading the more scholarly parts of it, but youýll learn some amazing stuff about fungi, mold and the scientists who discovered them.
Book Description
Mushrooms are among the most intriguing and striking inhabitants of the natural world, as highly regarded for their distinctive flavors and uses in cooking and medicine as for their sometimes strange, often beautiful shapes and forms. Some are medicinal, others poisonous or even lethal. Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of the World is a well-rounded look at mushrooms, including their cultivation, ethnobotanical uses, and the fascinating roles they play in nature. The authors provide expert advice on how to identify and distinguish between edible and poisonous wild mushrooms and how to record important details, with suggestions for taking photographs and preparing spore prints. More than 250 stunning photographs accompany the text. Truly international in its coverage, this engaging introduction to the world of mushrooms will appeal to naturalists, students, photographers, chefs, hikers, and potential growers from around the world.
Customer Reviews:
Pretty good.......2007-03-25
I got this book primarily for its photos and general information. That pretty much sums up the book.
If you want a guide book get "Mushrooms Demystified" - Great book.
If you want to read about and take a look at some interesting and beautiful mushrooms, get this book.
Its good in that it has a lot of general information (ie mushroom cultivating) but I would never use this book alone to properly identify a mushroom, nor to use in the field.
Instead it is a good book to take a look at after using a proper guide to confirm that all the characteristics add up, and also to salivate at the hopes of finding some of the great edibles described within.
A Great Guide for the Mushroom Lover.......2004-12-09
I have read quite a few mushroom books in my course of book reviewing, but I would have to say this is one of the best. This book has great coverage on propagation, cultivation, identification and collecting. I like the decision to leave out mushrooms of unknown edibility because it makes the book much more manageable.
The photography is excellent. I liked the addition of habitat shots of where certain mushrooms grow. This would surely help anyone who is a collector.
This book stayed on track and didn't try to be all things to all people. For instance, in the cultivation section, they tell you what to read for more information depending on the type of mushroom.
This book has great information on all levels and is helpful guide for the novice to expert gardener.
Average customer rating:
- Katya's Book of Mushrooms
- Katya will help your students learn to love mushrooms
|
Katya's Book of Mushrooms
Katya Arnold
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Botany
| Science, Nature & How It Works
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ASIN: 0805041362 |
Customer Reviews:
Katya's Book of Mushrooms.......2003-09-29
I am an adult & enjoyed this book very much. It included valuable information about mushrooms, poisonous and edible, as well as cultural information and anecdotes.
The Morel: Mushrooms are everywhere if you look.
Katya will help your students learn to love mushrooms.......1997-10-18
This book is a wonderfully illustrated source for facts about those fantastic fungi known as mushrooms. It makes pure science pure fun! If your class does anything with fungi, this book is a must!
Average customer rating:
- intriguing
- This is a re-issue of a 1974 publication
|
Mushrooms of the World
Guiseppe Pace
Manufacturer: Firefly Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Mushrooms
| Plants
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Fungi
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ASIN: 1552092127 |
Book Description
All over the world, mushrooms fascinate people. From the earliest times, they have been associated with magic, witchcraft, religious ceremonies, and special healing rites. But for most of us, mushrooms are something to eat and enjoy, both as a special additional flavoring for cooked foods, and as the central ingredient in both delicate and hearty dishes.
Mushrooms and fungi of all kinds have been used as food, and poisonous ones are easily mistaken for edible varieties which look very much alike. Some of the most appealing mushrooms may be poisonous, so the first task of the mushroom hunter is to become familiar with the enormous variety of mushrooms. Secondly, every mushroom hunter needs to determine the best seasons and locations to find the most desirable species.
This is the appeal of
Mushrooms of the World. In the first part of the book the author describes more than 1,000 species and varieties of mushrooms from the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, from the Mid-east to the Far East. About 400 species are described in the text; the rest are described and illustrated in 300 splendid color plates.
In the second part of the book, with the help of drawings and photographs of more species (some of which are very rare, and of great interest to mycologists) the author expands on several important mushroom subjects including: prejudices regarding the edibility of mushrooms and fungi; mushroom poisoning and first-aid remedies; the cultivation of common and exotic species; and a brief history of mycology.
To complete the book, the author has added directions for the identification of the principal genera of mushrooms, a glossary of technical terms, an index of the genera, species and synonyms, a bibliography, and a short list of mushrooms commonly found in North America.
Customer Reviews:
intriguing.......2001-09-30
The content seems very thorough and well researched. However, the artwork is beautiful and IT is why I bought this book. This makes a unique coffeetable book.
This is a re-issue of a 1974 publication.......1998-12-12
originally published as "The Complete Book of Mushrooms" by Rinaldi and Tynaldo in 1974 by Crown Publishers.
The artwork is wonderful.
Customer Reviews:
The best book on fungi's photographies........2002-08-15
6 stars of 5. Isn't a botanical book. No keys, no descriptions of fungi, no introduction to families... just photos... fantastic photos. Many of the species shown inside are unidentified, but it doesn't matter.
If you wanna make a gift to someone interested in fungi this is the book i'll recommend to you.
Book Description
A fascinating look inside nature's fifth kingdom
Fungi are a distinct kingdom, separate from the plants and animals, bacteria and protists. They are ever-present—we inhale them with almost every breath—and without them the recycling of the Earth's nutrients would be impossible. Yet despite their ubiquitous nature, they are poorly understood. Roy Watling sheds new light on these amazing creatures, explaining why they are so unique and how they live their lives. 100 color photographs.
Customer Reviews:
Good basic introduction to fungi/mushrooms.......2006-12-15
This is a nice basic book that discusses fungi in general. Actually the title could still be called Mushrooms because if you are looking for scientific information on fungi there is not alot here. In fact many things are discussed generally. The writing style is too mature for young children (big words) but not scientific enough for those looking to do research or their own growing. And there is not enough information here to use this as an identification guide. Still, this book would be good for a brief introduction to fungi or as a gift for an older child interested in science.
Books:
- National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region (Eastern)
- National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region - Revised Edition (National Audubon Society Field Guide)
- National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region (Eastern)
- National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region (Eastern)
- National trees of Latin American and the Caribbean =: Arboles nacionales de America Latina y el Caribe
- New True Books: Plant Experiments (New True Books: Science (Paperback))
- Oats: Wild and cultivated : a monograph of the genus Avena L. (Poaceae) (Monograph - Canada Department of Agriculture, Research Branch ; no. 14)
- Phloem transport: Proceedings of an International Conference on Phloem Transport, August 18-23, 1985, held at Asilomar, California (Plant biology)
- Photosynthetic Picoplankton (Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences No. 214)
- Physiological Processes in Plant Ecology: Toward a Synthesis With Atriplex (Ecological Studies)
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