Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard: The Mysterious World of Mushrooms, Molds, and Mycologists

ISBN-13: 9780195171587 / Angielski / Miękka / 2004 / 224 str.

Nicholas P. Money

Opis

Stinkhorns, puffballs, the "corpse finder," deadly Galerina, Satan's bolete, birch conks, black mold, the old man of the woods--the world of fungi is infinitely varied and not a little weird. Now, in Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard, Nicholas Money introduces readers to a dazzling array of fungi, from brewer's yeast and Penicillium to the highly lethal death cap. We learn of Madurella, which can erode bones until they look moth-eaten; Cordyceps, which wracks insects with convulsions, kills them, then sends a stalk out of the insect's head to release more infectious spores; and Claviceps, the poisonous ergot fungus, which causes hallucinations.
Money also showcases the lives of famed mycologists--including Reginald Buller who wore horse blinders as he walked to work, the better to study luminescent fungi in his dark lab, and Charles Tulasne, the Audubon of fungi, whose illustrations of specimens border on art. And he recounts his own childhood introduction to fungi in Mr. Bloomfield's orchard, where trees and fruit were devoured by a rogue's gallery of bitter rot, canker, rust, powdery mildew, rubbery wood, and scab. Replete with historical photographs and simple yet effective illustrations, told with a refreshing sense of humor, Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard will fascinate anyone interested in the natural world.

Recenzje

A witty and wonderful book. In lively prose, Nik Money tells of tramping through the woods in search of mold hermaphrodites, or to stick thermometers into wild mushrooms so as to measure their internal temperature. He also presents lurid descriptions of fungal diseases. The enzymatic vomit of one species can make your hair fall out; the cells of another species cement scalp grease into dandruff. Spores of a fungus that loves bird droppings can get into your lungs and turn your body into soup. I've never read better descriptions of the complicated sex lives and life cycles of fungal pathogens. This book should be required reading for anyone fascinated by the natural world.

O autorze

Nicholas P. Money is Professor of Botany and Western Program Director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He has studied fungal growth and reproduction for more than 30 years and has authored six books, including Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard: The Mysterious World of Mushrooms, Molds, and Mycologists (OUP, 2002), Mushroom (OUP, 2011) described by Nature magazine as a 'brilliant scientific and cultural exploration', and The Amoeba in the Room: Lives of the Microbes (OUP, 2014).