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Product Description Peek beneath Nature's surface! Shelved at the New York Botanical Garden and the Museum of Natural History. Do we see or only look?!! Did you know that amber really is a time-machine!Colorful flowers did not evolve for human satisfaction! The author - a botanist, gardener and journalist - embarks on a wide-ranging exploration of the world around her armed with a gift for noticing what most of us miss in life. She trains a fresh, clear eye on the minute as easily as the immense, showing us how to appreciate the brilliance and majesty of what can so easily pass for the mundane and inconsequential. The range of her interests is simply extraordinary, and she attends to her subject--essentially, an education in seeing--with wit, charm, and great elan. Review Debut author Sura Jeselsohn routinely marvels at the hidden wonders of the natural environment, spectacles that can be enjoyed without the fuss of exotic travel. The author recounts adventures big and small in encountering the ecological gems hiding in plain sight. She returns repeatedly to the notion of noticing and enjoying the natural beauty accessible to all with the patience to look for it--all that is "happening beneath the radar." Jeselsohn writes with great clarity and informal unpretentiousness; her expertise is undeniable, but she expresses it without a hint of professional arrogance. In fact, quite the contrary, she infectiously invites the reader to share the experiences she believes are open to all, given a heightened attentiveness. - Kirkus Review From the Back Cover " As a newcomer to Sura Jeselsohn's blog, I'm thoroughly impressed with the breadth of her topics and the depth of their content. From Lubber grasshoppers to caves, her inquisitive mind digs out the details and enlightens her readers with readable and memorable narratives. Kudos!" - Judy Jonas, author of "Deaf and Hearing Siblings in Conversation" "Reading these essays reminds me of wandering about the woods, turning over rocks to see what lies underneath. Inspired by an unusual mushroom, a spider web, or the gifts of the Magi, Jeselsohn's writing is embodied in a simple but compelling thought: "You never know where a chance observation will lead." - Scott Freeman, author of "Saving Tarboo Creek: One Family's Quest to Heal the Land" "For a long time, Sura Jeselsohn has contributed a very popular column called 'Green Scene' to the Riverdale Press, and this book is a compilation of some of those essays. She brings to her writing a solid background in science and the sensibility of a poet. Her speciality here is botany, and she vividly explores the histories of many fruits, vegetables, and flowers that you thought you knew - and traces the paths they take in getting from field to plate. She approaches her subjects with respect and the wide-eyed curiosity of a child and the result is the very beautiful volume that you hold in your hands." - Gerald Lebowitz, Lecturer in English, Bronx, Community College " A fantastic amateur nauralist, the author has been writing about the natural and physical sciences for her Riverdale Press column for many years. Those essays have been thought-provoking and enticing, making the reader want to delve more deeply into each topic. In this anthology, you will be transported into a foreign world - from plant ecology to the power of tectonic plates moving toward each other at the rapid rate of twelve centimeters a year! The short features cover such a wide variety of topics that there is something of great interest for children as well as adults; you don't have to be science-oriented to appreciate the stories in this book." - Howard Feldman,Professor of Biology,Touro College