Seeds: Time Capsules of Life

Two days ago, my doorbell rang and this absolutely stunning book was in my hands - finally! Having waited many months for a complimentary copy to arrive, I came to the conclusion that perhaps my requested photo wasn't needed after all. I didn't feel comfortable e-mailing to check on this, but eventually after maybe a year, that's what I did. I learned that yes, my photo of One-sided Wintergreen was included, and that a book had been sent to me many months earlier - but obviously had got lost somewhere between England and Canada. I decided to go through Amazon and then, when the date for shiipping was postponed and I thought that maybe they just didn't have a new copy of this book, I went through a different company. So, more than a year later, I finally have this stunning book in my hands. It's a coffee table book, 12" by 11", 264 pages of the most amazing microscopic photos of seeds from all over the world (along with text). A book where science and art come together in the most wonderful way, thanks to the two very talented authors!

"Rob Kesseler is a visual arts professor and artist. Since 2001 he has been working with microscopic plant material at London's Royal Botanic Gardens.

Wolfgang Stuppy is a seed morphologist for the Millennium Seed Bank at London's Royal Botanic Gardens. His work furthers the bank's efforts to safeguard 24,000 plant species from around the globe." From Firefly Books.

I love the fact that Prince Charles wrote the Preface for this book, and it makes me smile when I read his first sentence:

"Anyone who has observed a snowflake through a magnifying glass knows that some of Nature's most exquisite handiwork is on a miniature scale ...." Reckon I can relate to this guy, lol! I feel honoured to have my VERY humble photo included in this book - I just happened to have a photo of something that they needed. I always feel honoured to have my photos published, but have to admit this has a very special meaning to me, including a tie with my old home country, England, that I haven't been able to visit in 32 years!

"In 1997, Papadakis founded a new publishing house, Papadakis Publisher, with his daughter Alexandra. In addition to books on architecture and the decorative arts the company broadened its scope to include books on natural science, including the acclaimed series Pollen, Seeds and Fruit in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, leading to his election as a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Pollen and Seeds were awarded a joint gold medal by the American Independent Publishers’ Association in 2006 as Outstanding Books of the Year."

For information about Kew Gardens, England, and their Millennium Seed Bank:-
www.kew.org/science-conservation/conservation-climate-cha...

www.kew.org/about-kew/index.htm

For information about the Publisher, Andreas Papadakis:-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Papadakis