Princeton University Press’ new The Lives of the Natural World series sees its first two volumes publishing on 26 April 2022. The first of this inaugural pair – Dr. Britt Bunyard’s “The Lives of Fungi” – takes readers through a detailed and cleverly arranged introduction to the fascinating world of this remarkable kingdom of life.
Just what is at the root of all the fuss about truffles? Why do these strange little fungi balls have such extraordinary qualities? Why do so many go to such trouble – and pay such high prices – to obtain them? And what role do some particularly skilled dogs play in the matter?
I’m not quite certain what has brought widespread interest in fungi to the fore this past decade. Perhaps it has been the expansion of awareness of mycelial networks and their relationship to forests, or maybe it is related to expanding grass-roots campaigns to legalize psilocybin for medical use in the treatment of PTSD and other […]
While I’ve read a number of works about fungi in the past, I’m very impressed indeed with how Dr. Sheldrake presents his subject in this book (as of this writing I’m approximately half-way through it). Many times it has already caused me to interrupt Mrs. Naturalist from whatever I found her doing at the moment in order to share with her something I had just read in the books pages that I found too important or interesting about which not to immediately tell someone.