MAN'S USEFUL PLANTS

A pronounced but undogmatic interest in natural foods, plant remedies and ecology (concluding that man can survive the destruction of the wilderness, but the amenities of civilized life will be gone) gives Weiner's overview of useful plants--their histories, distribution and applications--a unifying focus. Weiner gives some data on nutrition, but his presentation is mostly nontechnical though this seemingly casual approach still includes some surprising information. (Did you know that most potatoes in this country are consumed as potato chips?) None of this will replace Edlin's more rigorous Plants and Man but the book will find its own niche where a younger, more informal approach is in order.