The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants

A must read for anyone interested in American history, natural history, or gardening. Well written and researched.

Everyone who has read The Omnivore's Dilemma should read The Garden of Invention. This biography explains the start one hundred years of corporate food and factory farms.

Fascinating book and well written. Covers the subject in depth and with lots of details.

GARDEN OF INVENTION: LUTHER BURBANK AND THE BUSINESS OF BREEDING PLANTS offers an excellent history of the plant breeder and farm and garden efforts in early 20th century America. A century ago Burbank was the most famous gardener on the planet. This survey of his contributions is not a biography nor an encyclopedia of his creations but a cultural and social survey of Burbank's influences on gardening trends and American culture, and deserves a spot in any general lending library.

Frankenfood, corn-powered cars, seedless oranges, and cloned cows--if you wonder how we got there from here, read "The Garden of Invention," which shares the story of plant pioneer Luther Burbank, inventor of dozens of famous and infamous fruits, vegetables, and flowers, including the Satsuma plum and Black Giant cherry, rainbow corn and elephant garlic, Shasta daisy and American Evening primrose--not to mention spineless cacti. In his own time (Burbank developed more than 800 new varieties between 1873 and 1925), he was as famous as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, and hero to such diverse icons as Andrew Carnegie and Swami Paramahasa Yoganada. His legacy gave rise to "The Garden as Intellectual Property," as Smith titles her last chapter. This book is fun, fascinating, fast-reading food for thought.