"Of the dozens of books I read in 2012, ... I keep coming back to Daniel Chamovitz's "What A Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses." ... It's incredibly interesting material, presented in an entertaining and fun way — in about only 140 pages. "What A Plant Knows" is a nice fit on my shelf of gardening books — and that's where it will stay. Although I've recommended the book to several people, I've ungraciously not let them borrow my copy. I fear I won't get it back." —Bill Hageman, Chicago Tribune
"The reader...will find enough absorbing science to concede that plants continue to inspire and amaze us. It's time, as Joni Mitchell sang at Woodstock, 'to get ourselves back to the garden' and take a closer look at plants." —Bill Laws, The Wall Street Journal
"This elegantly written account of plant biology will change the way you see your garden...Chamovitz lets us see plants in a new light, one which reveals their true wonder." —PD Smith,The Guardian
"Plants may be brainless, eyeless and devoid of senses as we know them, but they have a rudimentary 'awareness', says biologist Daniel Chamovitz. In this beautiful reframing of the botanical, he reveals the extent and kind of that awareness through a bumper crop of research." Nature
"This guide to plants' sensory abilities is both surprising and great fun to read." Sunday Times
“For everyone who has wondered at Mimosa, the suddenly snapping Venus flytrap or the way a sunflower’s head unerringly turns to follow the sun, Daniel Chamovitz has written the perfect book.” —Andrea Wills, American Scientist
“A fascinating inside look at what a plant’s life is like, and a new lens on our own place in nature.” —Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
“A handy guide to our own senses as well as those of plants.” —Frank Graham Jr., Audubon
“Just as his groundbreaking research uncovered connections between the plant and animal kingdoms, Daniel Chamovitz's insights in What a Plant Knows transcend the world of plants. This entertaining and educational book is filled with wondrous examples that underscore how the legacy of shared genomes enables plants and animals to respond to their environments. You'll see plants in a new light after reading What a Plant Knows."--Gloria Coruzzi, Carroll & Milton Petrie Professor, Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University
"Just like us, a plant that aspires to win the rat race must exploit its environment. Even a daffodil can detect when you're standing in its light, and a rhododendron knows when you're savaging its neighbor with the pruning shears. With deftness and clarity, Chamovitz introduces plants' equivalent of our senses, plus floral forms of memory and orientation. When you realize how much plants know, you may think twice before you bite them." Hannah Holmes, author of Quirkand Suburban Safari
"Chamovitz walks the homo sapiens reader right into the shoes—or I should say roots—of the plant world. After reading this book you will never again walk innocently past a plant or reach insensitively for a leaf. You will marvel and be haunted by a plant’s sensory attributes and the shared genes between plant and animal kingdoms." Elisabeth Tova Bailey, author ofThe Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
"If you've ever marveled at how and why plants make the choices thatthey do, WHAT A PLANT KNOWS holds your answer. Chamovitz is a master at translating the science of botany into the language of the layman." Michael Malice, subject of Ego & Hubris, author and succulent enthusiast
"This is a lively eloquent account of research on plant physiology, succinctly written, scientifically accurate as well as easy to read. From the ground-breaking botanical experiments of Charles Darwin to those prosecuted by leading contemporary plant science laboratories, evidence abounds that plants are aware, in their own way, of light, aromas, touch, gravity and their past. Understandably, as the author explains, plants are not responsive to sound, so we all can be reassured that playing our favourite music to them is not essential. I commend this engaging text to all who wonder about life on Earth, and seek a compelling introduction to the lives of plants revealed through centuries of careful scientific experimentation." Prof. Stephen D. Hopper, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
"A fascinating book that explores accessibly the evidence that plants share more properties with animals than most people appreciate. It may come as a relief to vegetarians to learn that plants do not feel pain or suffer, in the human sense, when harvested. Nevertheless, after reading What a Plant Knows, we wanted to apologize to our daffodils for the times when our shadows have shielded them from the Sun." John and Mary Gribbin, authors of The Flower Hunters
“By comparing human senses to the abilities of plants to adapt to their surroundings, the author provides a fascinating and logical explanation of how plants survive despite the inability to move from one site to another. Backed by new research on plant biology, this is an intriguing look at a plant's consciousness.” Kirkus Reviews