How Flowers Made Our World

In How Flowers Made Our World, biologist David George Haskell redefines our understanding of flowers, casting them as powerful revolutionaries at the heart of Earth's story. "Vividly written. David George Haskell shows how the most trivialized part of the natural world is among its most powerful and essential.” —**Rebecca Solnit, author of Orwell’s Roses "David George Haskell's great strength as a writer is that he is open to surprise. He regards the planet as a strange and beautiful place. How Flowers Made Our World is at once closely observed, richly reported, and mind-blowing.”—Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction **"In this dazzling book, scintillating with wonder and scholarship, Haskell shows us how flowers – so often belittled and misunderstood, have shaped ecology, and so shaped us. Flowers are tectonic, and here is a book worthy of them.”—Charles Foster, author of The Edges of the World "Joyful ...** brimming with curiosity, humour, and crystal-clear scientific delights. How Flowers Made Our World is a celebration of the inventiveness of floral life.” Zoë Schlanger, author of The Light Eaters Far from being mere ornaments, flowers have shaped the very fabric of life on our planet. Their evolution triggered a cascade of biodiversity, transforming oceans, creating new habitats, and even altering the climate. Their beauty turned adversaries into allies, and their adaptability turned environmental upheavals into opportunities for renewal. Weaving together vivid storytelling, lyrical writing, and cutting-edge science, Haskell illuminates flowers as portals into deep time and essential players in our ecological future. He reveals how flowers built and sustained ecosystems from rainforests to prairies and have been pivotal in the evolution of species like butterflies, bees, and birds.