Planta Sapiens

The New Science of Plant Intelligence

by Paco Calvo, Natalie Lawrence

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Pub Date Mar 14 2023 | Archive Date Feb 28 2023

W. W. Norton & Company

Nonfiction (Adult) | Outdoors & Nature | Science

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Description

An astonishing window into the inner world of plants, and the cutting-edge science in plant intelligence.

Decades of research document plants’ impressive abilities: they communicate with one another, manipulate other species, and move in sophisticated ways. Lesser known, however, is the new evidence that plants may actually be sentient. Although plants may not have brains, their microscopic commerce exposes a system not unlike the neuronal networks running through our own bodies. They can learn and remember, possessing an intelligence that allows them to behave in adaptive, flexible, anticipatory, and goal-directed ways.

A leading figure in the philosophy of plant signaling and behavior, Paco Calvo offers an entirely new perspective on plant biology. In Planta Sapiens, he shows for the first time how we can use tools developed in animal cognition studies in a quest to deeply understand plant intelligence. He illuminates how plants inspire technological advancements: from robotics and AI to tackling the ecological crisis. Most importantly, he demonstrates that plants are neither objects nor resources; they are agents in themselves, and for themselves.

About the Author: Paco Calvo is a professor of the philosophy of science and principal investigator at the Universidad de Murcia's Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINTLab) in Spain.

Natalie Lawrence is a writer and illustrator with a PhD in the history of science, living in London.

An astonishing window into the inner world of plants, and the cutting-edge science in plant intelligence.

Decades of research document plants’ impressive abilities: they communicate with one...

Advance Praise

"We are unimaginable without plants, yet surprisingly blind to their powers and behaviors. Planta Sapiens weaves science and history into an absorbing exploration of the many ways that plants rise to the challenge of living." - Merlin Sheldrake, author of Entangled Life

"Planta Sapiens presents ‘fertile possibilities’ to the public and in doing so it has put science on notice. All plants are juggling to respond to climatic change. They are encoded to anticipate this, with their attentive neurobiochemistry driven by a helix that is so similar to that of the human family. Should we be surprised? No! We should be delighted with Professor Calvo’s seeding of scientific curiosity for the hope that it offers." - Diana Beresford-Kroeger, author of To Speak for the Trees

"Deeply thought-provoking. Planta Sapiens is a mind-opening meditation about the inner lives of plants. Whether you come away convinced that plants are conscious, or not, this book will change—and enrich—the way you look at the green life all around you." - Anil Seth, author of Being You: A New Science of Consciousness

"Remarkable.... Calvo has a wonderfully infectious enthusiasm for his subject that makes this book, for all its complex science, a joy to read. He challenges us to set aside our ‘zoocentric’ perspective and to change our view of plants radically: from mechanisms akin to robots to complex organisms with a range of behaviours, responding to and anticipating their environments. In doing so, he has written a genuinely mind-expanding book." - PD Smith, The Guardian

"Planta Sapiens is [a] bold and brave paean to our planet’s ligneous, leafy kingdom. I mostly relished the intellectual interrogation, the maverick thinking, and add my voice to his call to think beyond our prejudices and our anthropocentric indoctrination." - Jackie Higgins, Daily Telegraph