Green Nature/Human Nature: THE MEANING OF PLANTS IN OUR LIVES (Environment Human Condition)

Green Nature/Human Nature: THE MEANING OF PLANTS IN OUR LIVES (Environment Human Condition)

"Our ties to the green world are often subtle and unexpected. It is not merely that hemoglobin and chlorophyll bear a striking similarity in structure, or that plants provide the pleasure of food and flowers."--from the PrefaceWhy do gardeners delight in the germination and growth of a seed? Why are our spirits lifted by flowers, our feelings of tension allayed by a walk in a forest or park? What other positive influences can green naturebring to humanity?In Green Nature/Human Nature Charles A. Lewis describes the psychological, sociological, and physiological responses of people to vegetation in cities and forests, as well as in horticultural therapy programs in hospitals, geriatric institutions, physical rehabilitation centers, drug rehabilitation programs, and correctional institutions. He presents an evolutionary basis for the human attraction to plants. People-plant interactions are presented from two perspectives: participatory, in which the individual is involved in planting and maintaining the vegetation, and observational, in which the individual bears no responsibility for establishing or maintaining the vegetation.In what amounts to a straightforward catalog of well-documented and tangible benefits, Lewis brings the latest and best research into plant/human interaction to bear on questions of how green nature is intertwined with the human psyche and how that interaction can lead to enhanced well-being and an appreciation of the human dimension in environmental concerns.Lewis's work will be essential reading for anyone interested in plantsand how they affect people.A volume in the series The Environment and the Human ConditionReview..focuses upon the impact and influence of vegetation..on human health and well-being. Compiling over thirty years of research conducted by researchers and practitioners in the fields of environmental psychology, horticultural therapy, landscape architecture and cross-disciplinary areas of research such as environmental behavior, Lewis weaves together the work of Stephen and Rachel Kaplan, Roger Ulrich, Mark Francis and others, with anecdotes from the author's thirty plus years in the field. These anecdotes, many of which relate the reactions or experiences of urban gardeners, children, senior citizens, and prisoners in a county jail, serve as persuasive evidence regarding the impacts of plants on human well-being.(Landscape Journal, Vol 16, No 1, Spring 1997 (Stanton I. Jones)) -- (Landscape Journal, Vol 16, No 1, Spring 1997)..this marvelous and pathmaking book tells us exactly why "green nature" - plants, flowers, gardens, parks, landscape vegetation - is an essential part of our lives. Green Nature/Human Nature is not only an excellent synthesis of both qualitative and quantitative research that documents the bond between people and plants, it is a synthesis of the life's work and thinking of of one of the most important figures in people-plant relationships. Charles Lewis virtually founded the field of green psychology and, along with colleagues Rachel Kaplan, Roger Ulrich, Diane Relf and others has made it a legitimate for of science and design. As a result of three decades of their work, we now have an empirical and firm theoretical basis that nature is as important to human experience as food, rest and learning...This is an accessible and readable volume that will warm the hearts and inform the minds of all gardeners. I suggest you take a copy into the garden, read a few pages, ! look around, and join Lewis in his insightful and enjoyable tour of the significance of what you see. (Community Greening Review, 1997 (Prof. Mark Francis)) -- (Community Greening Review, 1997:Prof. Mark Francis)I think you have really captured the essence of what is most important about plants for people, and in saying how much I appreciate your contribution, I also want to thank you for having devoted so much of your life to exploring these relationships so fruitfully