David Fairchild wrote this book to describe his extensive world travels and his work introducing new plant species to the United States. In addition to sharing his legendary tropical botanical expertise, Fairchild provided graphic accounts of native cultures he was able to see before their modernization. He was an accomplished photographer and illustrated the book himself.
This is his personal story of his experiences, traveling endlessly, absorbing information about plant life and sending back cuttings to experiment with, investigating plant disease, and so on. His training and experiences in European laboratories and his travels brought him into contact with most of the people in his own field, and this narrative is full of human interest material, and anecdote.
Fairchild worked for the USDA in its infancy, was one of the first to investigate microbial causes of plant disease, and traveled the world documenting agricultural practices. He was a humorous and modest man who lead a fascinating life.
David Grandison Fairchild (April 7, 1869 - August 6, 1954) was an American botanist and plant explorer. Fairchild was responsible for the introduction of more than 200,000 exotic plants and varieties of established crops into the United States, including soybeans, pistachios, mangos, nectarines, dates, bamboos, and flowering cherries. Certain varieties of wheat, cotton, and rice became especially economically important.
Flora of Indiana has served as the standard by which other state floras must be compared. Now over 60 years old, it has clearly withstood the test of time, and continues to be a primary source of information for any serious student of field botany. Deam insisted upon the highest standards for his work, and strove to make the Flora as accurate as possible. He examined over 84,000 specimens in preparation for the book, and from these he prepared keys, species accounts, and range maps showing species occurrence by county. Although these maps reflect the knowledge only as it existed in 1940, they continue to be useful today in determining a species' general range in the state. This is especially helpful for the beginner, or one not familiar with Indiana's flora, as it can reduce the field of options when trying to determine an unknown plant's identity.
Information in Flora has also been very useful in the restoration of landscapes. Because Deam collected plants in every township of the state, we have an excellent record of what occurred in an area historically. This has been especially helpful when attempting to restore areas that no longer possess their native vegetation. A prime example involves an area in Daviess County, Indiana, where a major restoration project conducted by the Division of Nature Preserves has relied heavily on the Flora and Deam's plant collection for guidance. Landscape restorationists throughout the state would do well by utilizing the Flora in similar fashion.
The idea for this book grew directly out of a course developed by Lawrence Robbins, Professor of Anthopology at Michigan State University, called Great Discoveries in Archaeology. Professor Robbins saw the need for a good introductory book for the course. The book is primarily about four areas: 1) Spectacular and important finds and the way they were made; 2) The personalities concerned with many of these discoveries; 3) The reaction to the finds and their impact on both science and the public; and 4) Changing interpretations about the discoveries. Dr. Robbins discusses many great discoveries, including the discovery of Lucy, European cave art, Tomb of Tutankhamen, Troy, Pompeii, Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, Native American sites, the Rosetta Stone and the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is a reprint of the 1990 edition with the addition of a new preface that discusses some of the surprising new finds that have appeared since this book was first published. A modern day Indiana Jones, archaeologist Robbins has compiled facts, theories, and personal experience into ... a fascinating, highly readable and informative excursion into the richness of the past and the secrets it holds. Booklist The stories are varied and fascinating ... The photographs, particularly of cave art, are unusually good. West Coast Review of Books