Plants, People and Culture

The Science of Ethnobotany. The botanical wisdom accumulated by indigenous peoples throughout the world has led to discoveries of new pharmaceuticals, chemical compounds, and a myriad of other products. Using riveting stories of fieldwork in remote villages, two of the world's leading ethnobotanists show how plants have affected nearly every aspect of our lives, deeply influencing the trajectory of human civilization.

Michael J. Balick is Philecology Curator of Economic Botany and Director of the Institute of Economy Botany at The New York Botanical Garden

Paul Alan Cox is Dean of General Education and Honors and Professor of Botany at Brigham Young University. He is the co-winner of the 1997 Goldman Environmental Prize.