What a fine book!
Here is a work guaranteed to make us reflect more deeply than we ever have before about the pervasive and unending influence of fungi in our lives, from gastronomy to decay, from healing to swift death, from benign and beautiful to truly terrifying. There are fungi within us and fungi all about us, each in its own way charting the course of our lives.
Nicholas Money writes with a fluid, easy style and like so many scientists today displays a superb ability to inject snippets of wry humour into serious discussion. Nothing is lost by employing this artifice - quite the contrary in fact - and the reader moves along with the author at a very agreeable pace, learning together rather than being lectured at.
The mycobiome (no doubt a new term to many) is explored in incredible detail, including the unseen armies of fungi regulating the functions of our bodies. Medical science, traditionally focussed on bacteria and viruses, has come late to the table in recognizing the vital role of fungi in health remediation; also their potential to cause disease or exacerbate life-threatening conditions.
Magic mushrooms, known to all (but superficially to most), have the potential to provide effective treatment of depression and other psychopathological conditions. The wild forays into the psychedelic world of Timothy Leary and the phantasmagorical inclinations of Terence McKenna have yielded to serious research into how these fungi may offer solutions to a range of debilitating human disorders.
New research, especially by the Canadian scientist Suzanne Simard, reveals hitherto unknown networks of mutualism between mycorrhizal fungal networks and trees of different species.
So much is packed into this book with a clear link, historical and current, to human social conditions, and the use and abuse of mushrooms in different societies, culturally, sociologically and as agents of divine revelation.
I have no hesitation in earnestly recommending this book to physician, scientist, botanist, mycologist and layman alike.
Molds, Mushrooms and Medicines: Our Lifelong Relationship with Fungi - Princeton University Press
Nicholas P. Money
Hardcover - US$29.95 - ISBN: 9780691236308
240 pages - 6.125 x 9.25 inches (15.31 x 23.13 cm)
10 black-and-white illustrations
Publication date: 19 March, 2024
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...a world that I know little about.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone, Tom.
DeleteThanks for the review David.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
In your profession you must have an ongoing affair with mushrooms.
DeleteWhen I was teaching microbiology, I did a unit on fungi. I learned a lot about them, yet I really don't know anything about them. One of my former students went on to become a mycologist. I'm adding this book to my reading list. I bet scientists just keep discovering more and more about organisms in this kingdom. Happy new week. hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation; mushrooms, a topic about which I know almost nothing, except for the mushrooms where my friends, the leprechauns and gnomos, live.
ReplyDeleteSending you a kiss, a big hug and happy start to the week!
Fungi are probably among the least understood and least appreciated of Earth's taxonomic kingdoms. And yet the role they play is essential to a healthily functioning environment. This sounds like a much-needed book - maybe one that I, myself, need. Thank you for the review and bringing it to my attention.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly has not received the attention of many other taxa.
DeleteInteresting book to read. Mushrooms are very interesting as is other fungi.
ReplyDeleteSomething I know very little about and yet am fascinated by. You probably know more about nature than anyone else I know. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful and very educational book. Plus I love fungi.
ReplyDeleteNice review, David. I know very little about about them, but they are intresting. Hugs and kisses, Marit
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a good book to me David.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Greetings Irma
It sounds like an interesting book, thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteTake care, enjoy your day and have a great week ahead.
Your mention of Timothy Leary takes me back to my youth, David. Wasn't his catch phase something like 'Tune in, turn on, and drop out'?
ReplyDeleteI'd probably buy this one if I thought that I'd be able to find the time to read it. I don't know where time goes these days!
Best wishes to you both - - - Richard
I think you are right about Leary’s mantra, Richard. I had forgotten it.
DeleteI will have to check with my daughter-in-law to make sure she has this book. She probably does but just in case! Thanks for the review. Always an interesting topic. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteThis book is only scheduled for publication later this month, Missy - see above.
DeleteGrzyby mnie zawsze fascynowały. W Puszczy Białowieskiej byłam szczęśliwa, bo to las pierwotny i grzyby wręcz tam królują. Podziwiam naukowców, którzy piszą na ich temat i co chwilę odkrywają ich nowe tajemnice. Pozdrawiam!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fascinating read!
ReplyDeleteIf you recommend it, it must be good! Hugs! xxxxxxxxx
ReplyDeleteInteresting I would guess and worth a place in the book. Bisous Diane
ReplyDeleteParece muy interesante, su lectura.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a very interesting and useful book.
ReplyDeleteFrom delicious treats to horrible pathogens... fungi are really diverse.
Some of the mushrooms around us are actually good.
ReplyDeleteOn connait si peu les champignons finalement. Un livre où l'on doit apprendre beaucoup. Bonne journée
ReplyDeletein books I read, fiction only, and movies I watch, fiction only, magic mushrooms make the people do strange things and are considered drugs and cause hallucinations. first I have heard about helping with depression...
ReplyDeleteThere has been a great deal of research into the benefits of of mushrooms with mood-inducing properties, and the attitude towards them varies greatly throughout the world.
DeleteAnother great book and your review.
ReplyDeleteGreetings.
This sounds like a book I would like to own. Thanks for the great review.
ReplyDeleteOtro libro interesante. Besos.
ReplyDeleteMuch like Tom, I know little of this.
ReplyDelete