Thursday, 4 May 2023

The Creeping Garden by Jasper Sharp and Tim Grabham

 Creeping Garden, The (Book)

 Subtitled 'Irrational Encounters with Plasmodial Slime Moulds' this lavishly illustrated book is an accompaniment to the documentary film of the same name.

I had hoped for a book that was more focused on slime moulds themselves, as I am fascinated by this group of organisms that are neither plant, animal nor fungi. However, the book takes a different approach, concentrating on the making of the film, and exploring various topics including the use of slime moulds in computing and the role of Japan's Emperor Hirohito in slime mould research. 

A couple of chapters are devoted to slime moulds and fungi in nature, but even these focus on meditations about how to find a theme worthy of a film. 

So although this book is an interesting read, it wasn't what I hoped for, and I would be very interested in finding a book that actually does focus on the biology of slime moulds! So if you have any recommendations, let me know in the comments section! 

The Creeping Garden by Jasper Sharp and Tim Grabham, published (2015) by Alchimia Publishing.

 

 

2 comments:

Cloudia said...

I think you are looking for a technical or academic journal article! You seem to have a level of expertise already to ask questions beyond the common. I'm wishing you and your garden all the best my friend

Crafty Green Poet said...

Hi Cloudia, you're probably right! Slime moulds are a bit too unusual to have many popular science books dedicated to them!