Compelling story of a journey from a chill dark Minnesota town where a young girl would accompany her science teacher father to his lab, to becoming a scientist herself. Written chronologically addressing the science and the life journey Hope Jahren makes a compelling case for plants, colleagues, light and science.

This is a beautiful book with gorgeous descriptions of trees that I read extra slowly to savor.

It was nice to read about being a scientist from a woman’s perspective. My favorite part was Bill and his monkey doppelgänger.

Started out well.....then became pedantic and rather boring. I thought the author just wasn’t personal.

An unusual but fascinating memoir by an enthusiastic scientist who is keenly aware of being a woman in science and the headwinds that come with it. I loved reading about her one-of-a-kind relationship with Bill, her passionate bonding with plants and her labs, and the vagaries of succeeding in academia. Would loved to know more about Bill's place in her family circle and wish she would have told us. But all in all, a page-turner by a gifted writer. Highly recommended.

This joyful, heartfelt, passionate love affair- a story filled with life, curiosity, compassion and incredible scientific inquiry- will lift your soul. Hope Jahren, clearly is an amazing woman and accomplished scientist, but mostly she's a wonderous gift to us all. Thankfully, she's an author too. You'll laugh; you'll cry. Brilliant!

Hope Jahren's fascinating career in paleobotany is crystallized in this addictive memoir. Part adventure, part cautionary tale for women in a male-dominated field, her story is deftly woven with snippets of literary classics. I'll never look at a tree in the same way again. In fact, I'm going to plant one in her honor in our back yard!