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People, Plants and Genes
The Story of Crops and Humanity
Denis J Murphy
432 pages
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48 line illustrations, 4 halftones, tables
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246x189mm
978-0-19-920714-5
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Paperback
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19 July 2007
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- Written by an experienced lecturer and plant molecular biologist, who has worked extensively on crop improvement and has long-standing interests in the history of agriculture and the applications of modern biotechnology.
- Provides a comprehensive overview of the complex story of human-plant interactions, from the hunter-gatherers of the Palaeolithic Era, through to the 21st century and the molecular genetic manipulation of crops.
- Incorporates the latest genomic studies to explain the history of crop plant domestication.
- Demonstrates how our new understanding of plant genomes is set to usher in a new phase in plant breeding.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the complex story of human-plant interactions, from the hunter-gatherers of the Palaeolithic Era, through to the 21st century and the molecular genetic manipulation of crops. It links the latest advances in molecular genetics with the science and history of plant domestication, the evolution of plant breeding, and the implications of this new knowledge for both the agriculture of today and the future.
Modern societies still rely on plants for most of their food needs, not to mention clothing, shelter, medicines and tools. This special relationship has tied
together people and their plants in mutual dependence for over 50,000 years. Yet despite these millennia of intimate contact, people have only gone on to domesticate and cultivate a few dozen of the tens of thousands of edible plants available. Thanks to the latest genomic studies, we can now begin to explain how, when, and where some of the most important crops came to be domesticated, and the crucial role of plant genetics and climatic change in these processes. Indeed, it was their unique genetic organisations that ultimately determined which plants eventually became crops, rather than any conscious decisions by their human cultivators.
The book is primarily aimed at geneticists, molecular biologists, biotechnologists, and plant breeders who require a detailed and
up-to-date account of modern crop genetics and genomic research and its wider significance for agriculture. However, the accessible style will appeal to a wider readership of agronomists, archaeologists, and even historians, who wish to explore the many interactions that have shaped the often crucial relationships between plants and human societies.Readership: The book is primarily aimed at geneticists, molecular biologists, biotechnologists, and plant breeders who require a detailed and up-to-date account of modern crop genetics and genomic research and its significance for agriculture. However, the accessible style should appeal to a wider readership of agronomists, archaeologists, and even historians, who wish
to explore the origins and manipulation of plants by human societies
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Denis J Murphy, Head of Biotechnology Unit, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Glamorgan, UK
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"...but urge you to acquire it for edification and enjoyment. Denis Murphy is a co-evolutionist, raising serious matters currently affecting humankind, and this book should be accessible to all those interested in humanity and crop plants...I hope that this solo effort will encourage you to become a fan of DJM." - J. T. Walker Experimental Agriculture "...this book can safely be recommended as much more than just an up-to-date introduction to a topic fundamental to understanding humanity's past and critical to our species'continued survival. June 2008, Antiquity, Vol. 82, No 316."
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People and Plants: two hundred millennia of coevolution
1: Early human societies and their plants
2: Plant management and agriculture
3: How some people became farmers
Crops and their Genetics: 90 million years of evolution
4: Plant genomes
5: Fluid genomes, uncertain species, and the genetics of crop domestication
6: The domestication of cereal crops
7: The domestication of non-cereal crops
People, Plants, and Farming in Prehistoric Times: ten millennia of climatic and social change
8: People and the emergence of crops
9: Agriculture: a mixed blessing
10: Evolution of agro-urban cultures I: the Near East
11: Evolution of agro-urban cultures II: East and South Asia
12: Evolution of agro-urban cultures III: Africa, Europe and the Americas
People and Plants in Historic Times: globalisation of agriculture and the rise of science
13: Crop management in the Classical and Medieval Periods
14: Agricultural improvement and the rise of crop breeding
15: Imperial Botany and the early scientific breeders
16: Agricultural Improvement in modern times
17: The future of agriculture and humanity
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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