Description
In the mysterious and pristine forests of the tropics, a wealth of ethnobotanical panaceas and shamanic knowledge promises cures for everything from cancer and AIDS to the common cold. To access such miracles, we need only to discover and protect these medicinal treasures before they succumb to the corrosive forces of the modern world. A compelling biocultural story, certainly, and a popular perspective on the lands and peoples of equatorial latitudes--but true? Only in part. In The Ethnobotany of Eden, geographer Robert A. Voeks unravels the long lianas of history and occasional strands of truth that gave rise to this irresistible jungle medicine narrative. By exploring the interconnected worlds of anthropology, botany, and geography, Voeks shows that well-intentioned scientists and environmentalists originally crafted the jungle narrative with the primary goal of saving the world's tropical rainforests from destruction. It was a strategy deployed to address a pressing environmental problem, one that appeared at a propitious point in history just as the Western world was taking a more globalized view of environmental issues. And yet, although supported by science and its practitioners, the story was also underpinned by a persuasive mix of myth, sentimentality, and nostalgia for a long-lost tropical Eden. Resurrecting the fascinating history of plant prospecting in the tropics, from the colonial era to the present day, The Ethnobotany of Eden rewrites with modern science the degradation narrative we've built up around tropical forests, revealing the entangled origins of our fables of forest cures.
About the Author
Robert A. Voeks is professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at California State University, Fullerton, and the editor of the journal Economic Botany. He is the author of Sacred Leaves of Candomble African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil and coeditor of African Ethnobotany in the Americas.
Reviews
"It is about time that a scholar criticizes the 'jungle narrative' that the rainforest is full of undeveloped medicines that can save us (i.e. the Western world) from disease. Based on sound scientific data, personal field experiences, and relevant literature, Voeks's clear and well-written argument against the general cliches of ethnobotany, medicinal plants, indigenous peoples, traditional knowledge, and rainforests is original and refreshing. Especially in this time of fake news, racial debates, and environmental destruction, I welcome this rational debunking of the prejudices and myths of ethnobotany, written by one of the leading and most respected scientists in this field."--Tinde van Andel, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Wageningen University, and Leiden University "From ancient Greek accounts of tropical peoples as cannibalistic savages to modern tales of wise shamans, Voeks covers two thousand years of ethnobotanical history. There exists no shortage of books focusing on medicinal plants or colonial exploitation of tropical peoples, but the authors often either are poor historians or fail to cover relevant areas of botany and ethnobotany. Voeks is a serious scholar, and his knowledge of subjects as diverse as history, chemistry, and botany is both broad and deep. As such, The Ethnobotany of Eden will be an important contribution. This book is an accurate and compelling account of the non-native discovery of tropical plants and peoples from the ancient world to the modern."--Mark J. Plotkin, PhD, President of the Amazon Conservation Team and author of "Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest"
Book Information
ISBN 9780226547718
Author Robert A. Voeks
Format Hardback
Page Count 336
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
About the Author
Robert A. Voeks is professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at California State University, Fullerton, and the editor of the journal Economic Botany. He is the author of Sacred Leaves of Candomble African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil and coeditor of African Ethnobotany in the Americas.
Reviews
"It is about time that a scholar criticizes the 'jungle narrative' that the rainforest is full of undeveloped medicines that can save us (i.e. the Western world) from disease. Based on sound scientific data, personal field experiences, and relevant literature, Voeks's clear and well-written argument against the general cliches of ethnobotany, medicinal plants, indigenous peoples, traditional knowledge, and rainforests is original and refreshing. Especially in this time of fake news, racial debates, and environmental destruction, I welcome this rational debunking of the prejudices and myths of ethnobotany, written by one of the leading and most respected scientists in this field."--Tinde van Andel, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Wageningen University, and Leiden University "From ancient Greek accounts of tropical peoples as cannibalistic savages to modern tales of wise shamans, Voeks covers two thousand years of ethnobotanical history. There exists no shortage of books focusing on medicinal plants or colonial exploitation of tropical peoples, but the authors often either are poor historians or fail to cover relevant areas of botany and ethnobotany. Voeks is a serious scholar, and his knowledge of subjects as diverse as history, chemistry, and botany is both broad and deep. As such, The Ethnobotany of Eden will be an important contribution. This book is an accurate and compelling account of the non-native discovery of tropical plants and peoples from the ancient world to the modern."--Mark J. Plotkin, PhD, President of the Amazon Conservation Team and author of "Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest"
Book Information
ISBN 9780226547718
Author Robert A. Voeks
Format Hardback
Page Count 336
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
