In The Power of a Plant, globally acclaimed teacher and self-proclaimed CEO (Chief Eternal Optimist) Stephen Ritz shows you how, in one of the nation’s poorest communities, his students thrive in school and in life by growing, cooking, eating, and sharing the bounty of their green classroom. What if we taught students that they have as much potential as a seed? That in the right conditions, they can grow into something great? These are the questions that Stephen Ritz—who became a teacher more than 30 years ago—sought to answer in 2004 in a South Bronx high school plagued by rampant crime and a dismal graduation rate. After what can only be defined as a cosmic experience when a flower broke up a fight in his classroom, he saw a way to start tackling his school’s problems: plants. He flipped his curriculum to integrate gardening as an entry point for all learning and inadvertently created an international phenomenon. As Ritz likes to say, “Fifty thousand pounds of vegetables later, my favorite crop is organically grown citizens who are growing and eating themselves into good health and amazing opportunities.” The Power of a Plant tells the story of a green teacher from the Bronx who let one idea germinate into a movement and changed his students’ lives by learning alongside them. Since greening his curriculum, Ritz has seen near-perfect attendance and graduation rates, dramatically increased passing rates on state exams, and behavioral incidents slashed in half. In the poorest congressional district in America, he has helped create 2,200 local jobs and built farms and gardens while changing landscapes and mindsets for residents, students, and colleagues. Along the way, Ritz lost more than 100 pounds by eating the food that he and his students grow in school. The Power of a Plant is his story of hope, resilience, regeneration, and optimism.

'Dr Gemma is one of the few brave voices in the medical community who is experienced, courageous and confident enough to talk openly about food and its significance in preventing disease to save lives.' Dr Rupy Aujla 'Packed full of leading science in a very accessible way and lots of beautiful recipes too.' The Happy Pear 'The Plant Power Doctor should be on bookshelves of everyone who wants to live a longer, better life.' Dan Buettner 'One of a new wave of GPs who prescribe lifestyle changes as well as drugs.' The Telegraph You can eat your way to a brighter future Just imagine if what you put on your plate could radically improve your health right now AND make you healthier in the future too... British family doctor Gemma Newman explores how a simple change in diet helps many common chronic illnesses - from diabetes and heart disease to obesity - and the science that explains why it works. Enjoy over 60 delicious meal ideas to kick-start your plant-powered eating, along with simple shopping lists and meal plans. This book contains everything you need to futureproof your body and mind. Are you ready to discover the power of plants? Let's dive in...

The instant New York Times bestseller | A Washington Post Notable Book | One of NPR's Best Books of the Year “Expert storytelling . . . [Pollan] masterfully elevates a series of big questions about drugs, plants and humans that are likely to leave readers thinking in new ways.” —New York Times Book Review From #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Pollan, a radical challenge to how we think about drugs, and an exploration into the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants—and the equally powerful taboos. Of all the things humans rely on plants for—sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber—surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable. So, then, what is a “drug”? And why, for example, is making tea from the leaves of a tea plant acceptable, but making tea from a seed head of an opium poppy a federal crime? In This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs—opium, caffeine, and mescaline—and throws the fundamental strangeness, and arbitrariness, of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs while consuming (or, in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants. Why do we go to such great lengths to seek these shifts in consciousness, and then why do we fence that universal desire with laws and customs and fraught feelings? In this unique blend of history, science, and memoir, as well as participatory journalism, Pollan examines and experiences these plants from several very different angles and contexts, and shines a fresh light on a subject that is all too often treated reductively—as a drug, whether licit or illicit. But that is one of the least interesting things you can say about these plants, Pollan shows, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. Based in part on an essay published almost twenty-five years ago, this groundbreaking and singular consideration of psychoactive plants, and our attraction to them through time, holds up a mirror to our fundamental human needs and aspirations, the operations of our minds, and our entanglement with the natural world.

How one solar power plant might chart a sustainable path forward for enlisting American capitalism in the fight against climate change.

An exploration of how plant behavior and adaptation offer valuable insights for human thriving. We know that plants are important. They maintain the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. They nourish other living organisms and supply psychological benefits to humans as well, improving our moods and beautifying the landscape around us. But plants don’t just passively provide. They also take action. Beronda L. Montgomery explores the vigorous, creative lives of organisms often treated as static and predictable. In fact, plants are masters of adaptation. They “know” what and who they are, and they use this knowledge to make a way in the world. Plants experience a kind of sensation that does not require eyes or ears. They distinguish kin, friend, and foe, and they are able to respond to ecological competition despite lacking the capacity of fight-or-flight. Plants are even capable of transformative behaviors that allow them to maximize their chances of survival in a dynamic and sometimes unfriendly environment. Lessons from Plants enters into the depth of botanic experience and shows how we might improve human society by better appreciating not just what plants give us but also how they achieve their own purposes. What would it mean to learn from these organisms, to become more aware of our environments and to adapt to our own worlds by calling on perception and awareness? Montgomery’s meditative study puts before us a question with the power to reframe the way we live: What would a plant do?

Explores the secret lives of various plants, from the colors they see to whether or not they really like classical music to their ability to sense nearby danger.

This comprehensive volume provides a complete, authoritative, up-to-date reference for all aspects of power plant engineering. Coverage ranges from engineering economics to coal and limestone handling, from design processes to plant thermal heat balances. Both theory and practical applications are covered, giving engineers the information needed to plan, design, construct, upgrade, and operate power plants. Power Plant Engineering is the culmination of experience of hundreds of engineers from Black & Veatch, a leading firm in the field for more than 80 years. The authors review all major power generating technologies, giving particular emphasis to current approaches. Special features of the book include: * More than 1000 figures and lines drawings that illustrate all aspects of the subject. * Coverage of related components and systems in power plants such as turbine-generators, feedwater heaters, condenser, and cooling towers. * Definitions and analyses of the features of various plant systems. * Discussions of promising future technologies. Power Plant Engineering will be the standard reference in the professional engineer's library as the source of information on steam power plant generation. In addition, the clear presentation of the material will make this book suitable for use by students preparing to enter the field.