written by Thor Hanson, Basic Books, 2015
review by JoAnn Hackos

If you ever thought that a book about seeds might just be fascinating, Thor Hanson’s Triumph of Seeds needs to be your next book to read. As he points out, “we live in a world of seeds.” They are everywhere – our clothes, our drinks, our bread, our rice, our beans, and on and on. Seeds, in fact, may be the very reason that humans succeeded in taking over the earth. When early humans harvested and then began planting seeds, they provided a source of nourishment that no longer required long hunting trips fraught with danger.

But we also learn that early earth didn’t have seeds or plants that grow from seeds. The early life on earth was dominated by spores, like modern ferns. But spore plants had problems with reproduction because the egg and the sperm were entirely separate entities and had to be united by chance. Seeds united everything they need to grow into one protected bundle, covered by a hard shell.

Thor Hanson did his doctoral research on the seeds of the almendro tree in South and Central America. These seeds have an almost impenetrable shell. Consequently, macaws, rats, bats, and a few other animals carry the seed away to be cracked and eaten, enabling some of the seeds with their baby plants to sprout far enough away from the parent tree to thrive.

You’ll learn that seeds are carried by creatures as well as by wind and water. Seeds made the trip from South America to the Galapagos by floating on something large, like a log. Some seeds, like coffee and cotton, were moved around the world by enterprising humans, unfortunately enabling the slave trade. Seeds also enabled the spice trade, uniting the east with the west. Seeds developed protective coverings that we refer to as fruit, producing some of the favorite foods of humans as well as sustenance for birds and myriad other creatures. Just imagine Colorado without our peaches, apricots, and plums.

Seeds changed the world’s clothing from wool to cotton, producing the sweeping economic and social changes that resulted from the industrial revolution. Seeds are so incredibly valuable that special storage sites have been developed to protect and safeguard them. One of those sites, the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (the National Seed Bank), is housed on the CSU campus in Fort Collins. Its building is designed to withstand earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards, power outages, and fires. It also is designed to float, just in case Horsetooth Reservoir were to break.

I found Thor Hanson’s account funny and fascinating. I hope that you will as well. Don’t be discouraged by the long title. His account is a joy to read.