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Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
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Lab Girl (edition 2017)

by Hope Jahren (Author)

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2,6291575,560 (4.07)229
Biography & Autobiography. Nature. Science. Nonfiction. HTML:An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime friendship; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world
 
Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which sheâ??s studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book is a revelatory treatise on plant lifeâ??but it is also so much more.

Lab Girl
is a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahrenâ??s remarkable stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroomâ??s labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done â??with both the heart and the handsâ?; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work.
Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with a brilliant, wounded man named Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them from the Midwest across the United States and back again, over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.
Jahrenâ??s probing look at plants, her astonishing tenacity of spirit, and her acute insights on nature enliven every page of this extraordinary book. Lab Girl opens your eyes to the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass, and flower petal. Here is an eloquent demonstration of what can happen when you find the stamina, passion, and sense of sacrifice needed to make a life out of what you truly love, as you discover along the way the person you were meant to be.
Music for the Audio Edition:
Composed by Katelyn Sweeney Ching
Margaret Kocher, Cellist
Katelyn Sweeney Ching, Pianist 
Mark Robinson, Audio Engineer<
… (more)
Member:m.belljackson
Title:Lab Girl
Authors:Hope Jahren (Author)
Info:Vintage (2017), Edition: Reprint, 304 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:***1/2
Tags:Trees, Plants, Botany, Manic Depression, Hawaii, Minnesota, Laboratory, Dickens, Seeds, Alaska, Hospital, Hackberry, Elm, Opal, Dogs, Willow

Work Information

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

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» See also 229 mentions

English (155)  Spanish (2)  All languages (157)
Showing 1-5 of 155 (next | show all)
I listened to this as an audiobook from my library. I really like that It’s read by the author herself. This book is both a very personal story of Jahren’s life as a research scientist and a compilation of cool stories and facts about plants drawn from her many years of studying and teaching science.

I don’t usually use audiobooks, but I recently started knitting and found it’s a lot of fun to craft and listen at the same time. When I’m lucky my cat snuggles up to me as well. â˜ș ( )
  daplz | Apr 7, 2024 |
Much more of a memoir than I was expecting, but very well written. Beautiful descriptions and well-incorporated comparisons with the science and her real life experiences. ( )
  teenybeanie25 | Apr 1, 2024 |
Really enjoyed thius somewhat hard top categorize book. Part memoir, part paeon to the life of a scientist and to botany in general and trees in particular. Found the bits about plants a mile away reacting to chemicals put out by other plants fascinating. Also was interested in the idea of plant "memory." The parts where she revealed parts of her own struggle with illness and with being a woman in a male dominated field came across as simply factual , not grating as self examination can sometimes be when induled in with a captive audience present. Can't recommend it enough ( )
  cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |
3.5/5 perhaps. The last third pulled it together for me somehow. Maybe the Ireland story, and/or appreciation of how well the structure of the book works. ( )
  caedocyon | Feb 23, 2024 |
Great read by the lab girl. ( )
  ben_r47 | Feb 22, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 155 (next | show all)
With “Lab Girl,” Jahren has taken the form of the memoir and done something remarkable with it. She’s made the experience of reading the book mimic her own lived experience in a way that few writers are capable of.

She swerves from observations about plant life (“A cactus doesn’t live in the desert because it likes the desert; it lives there because the desert hasn’t killed it yet”) to a report from the interior of her tortured brain (“Full-blown mania lets you see the other side of death”) to adventures on the road with Bill (“ ‘Do you really think this is illegal?’ I asked Bill over the CB radio.”) — and somehow, it all works, because the structure and the language follow the story.
 

» Add other authors (1 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Hope Jahrenprimary authorall editionscalculated
Gumpert, Ignacio VillaroTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pérez, María José ViejoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Taeger, MerleÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
The more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confident grew my sense of kinship with the rest of the world. -Helen Keller
Dedication
Everything that I write is dedicated to my mother.
First words
People love the ocean.
There is nothing in the world more perfect than a slide rule.
Quotations
...silent togetherness is what Scandinavian families do naturally, and it may be what they do best.
In my own small experience, sexism has been something very simple: the cumulative weight of constantly being told that you can't possibly be what you are.
A cactus doesn’t live in the desert because it likes the desert; it lives there because the desert hasn’t killed it yet.
I have learned that raising a child is essentially one long, slow agony of letting go.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Biography & Autobiography. Nature. Science. Nonfiction. HTML:An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime friendship; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world
 
Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which sheâ??s studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book is a revelatory treatise on plant lifeâ??but it is also so much more.

Lab Girl
is a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahrenâ??s remarkable stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroomâ??s labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done â??with both the heart and the handsâ?; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work.
Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with a brilliant, wounded man named Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them from the Midwest across the United States and back again, over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.
Jahrenâ??s probing look at plants, her astonishing tenacity of spirit, and her acute insights on nature enliven every page of this extraordinary book. Lab Girl opens your eyes to the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass, and flower petal. Here is an eloquent demonstration of what can happen when you find the stamina, passion, and sense of sacrifice needed to make a life out of what you truly love, as you discover along the way the person you were meant to be.
Music for the Audio Edition:
Composed by Katelyn Sweeney Ching
Margaret Kocher, Cellist
Katelyn Sweeney Ching, Pianist 
Mark Robinson, Audio Engineer

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