It is summer as I write this. This is the time when many cities have outdoor festivals, associated with the 4th of July in the USA, or other events, such as the Viking Festivals in the upper Midwest. Often there is food from the local merchants, sometimes proffered under something like A Taste of ... (Hartford-for us most recently). This book is a little like such an array of eateries: the whole range of choices is here, but no full meals are offered. I like these summer festivals (got to see Johnny Winter and eat Polish pierogis on the same night), and I like this book (a treat-plant evolution and domestication in one text). It is well written and it is certainly comprehensive. It is a textbook intended for advanced undergraduates and graduates in crop evolution courses, but in my view, could also serve as a first reference for students on a number of topics. I assume the text was developed for the teaching that Dr. Hancock, a geneticist/evolutionist, does in his home department, Horticulture, at Michigan State University. The book is not encyclopedic, and for most topics, doesn't go into much depth, but it does cover a wide array of subjects from DNA technology to the origin of strawberries (one of Dr. Hancock's specialties). This is the second edition, and it continues in a market where there are not many competitors. The Beryl Simpson and Molly Ogorzaly text (2001) is still the most widely used book for undergraduate courses in and (although there are others too, like Levetin and McMahon, 2003, this book has more of an orientation to first year students). With Charles Heiser's (1990) and Herbert Baker's (1978) readable textbooks out of print, Robert Schery's (1972) and Albert Hill's (1952) more encyclopedic texts long out of print, and Mike Balick's and Paul Cox's book (1997) focused on ethnobotany, there are few options available for and courses. The Bruce Smith (1995) and Jack Harlan (1996) books are equally first-rate, but their topical coverage is of the origin(s) of agriculture, and the interface of plant and animal domesticates and archeology. That leaves the latest edition of Smartt and Simmonds (1995), and perhaps Jack Harlan's book on agriculture (1992), as the other choices in the niche the Hancock book occupies. The Smartt and Simmonds book, as an edited volume with contributions by experts on various crops, is more of a reference book, or a set of treatises for research consultation. While Harlan's text is the closest thing to a real competitor for Hancock's book, the orientation is quite different, with more focus on the development of agriculture in centers around the world-the conceptual area that Harlan (1992) covers so expertly in textbook format. There is some treatment of crop evolution in Harlan, but it is quite a different flavor, exploring the big picture of crop changes and selection associated with the process of domestication. Many colleges and universities have courses on useful plants, and it is gratifying that an increasing number of them are rediscovering the value of such courses. The political landscape, even internationally, makes it abundantly clear that creating an informed and scientifically empathetic electorate has to be among the most significant goals for educators and other botanists. In my experience, there is no better way to do that for plants, or maybe for biology as a whole, than through a course covering the species and processes upon which civilization, such as it is in the 21st century, depends (an unelaborated political comment). Teaching people about the origin of agriculture a brief 10 000 years ago and particularly about our primary cultigens (e.g., the 12 plants that stand between people and starvation; Tippo and Stern, 1977, pp. 284-285) is central to the effort to educate and build empathy. In addition, agriculture, domestication and domesticated organisms provide a compelling argument for protection of biodiversity, by offering a fundamental perspective to the consequences of extinction that Ed Wilson so eloquently distilled for species in general:
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Jul 1, 2007
Rick Roush 
Open Access
