Hope Jahren
The year is 1977. You are a Sitka willow being brutally ravaged by a ferocious attack from tent caterpillars. You frantically load your leaves with caterpillar poison to ward off the attack. You trigger the release of an airborne chemical known as a volatile organic compound (VOC). But you’re overrun with caterpillars and cannot save yourself. Perhaps, just perhaps, you can warn other Sitka willows. But how? Nearby trees are already infested and dying at an alarming rate. You can’t signal distant trees through your roots because they’re too far away. Maybe the VOCs you’ve release into the air can warn other Sitka willows to arm themselves with caterpillar poison. Hurry, before it’s too late! You continue to release VOCs in the hope others can survive. The Sitka willows, too far removed for soil talk, receive the airborne VOCs and arm themselves. By the time the caterpillars get there and nibble on the fresh crop of leaves, their fate is sealed. They eat the poison. They shrivel up and die. The Sitka Willow wins this battle.
The year is 2004. Scientists are able to prove the theory plants and trees communicate with one another through airborne VOCs. Who knew trees not only talk to each other but also have a strong sense of community?
This is just one of the fascinating facts about the natural environment that the award winning geobiologist Hope Jahren describes in Lab Girl. She alternates chapters about the challenges she faced as a female scientist with chapters in which she presents intriguing facts about the natural environment. The chapters are thematically connected. For example, the chapter on plant reproduction is followed by the chapter on meeting her future husband. The chapter on the sacrifice plants make to reproduce (they decrease in mass to repurpose their nutrients toward a new generation of flowers and seeds) is followed by the chapter on her experience with pregnancy. The parallels are intriguing.
Jahren does not shy away from describing intimate details of her life—her childhood in Minnesota; her struggle with mental health; her long-term, deep friendship with Bill Hagopian, her brilliant lab partner; her passion for science to the exclusion of all else in her life; her continuous search for funding; the challenges she faced in launching a science lab at every institution where she was employed; and her love for her husband and son. Her knowledge of the natural environment is educational, compelling, inspiring, and absolutely fascinating. Her writing style is engaging, honest, humorous, and exhibits a refreshing ability to describe complicated natural processes in ways that are accessible and relatable.
In spite of the countless hours, the hard work, and the tremendous sacrifices she makes, what emerges from this wonderful book is the pure joy Jahren experiences at doing what she loves best.
This engaging and delightful book is highly recommended for all who live on planet earth.