Unrooted: Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save an Old Science

Evolutionary botanist Zimmerman discusses her passion for plants and inveighs against sexism in the sciences in her marvelous debut memoir. Zimmerman grew up in southwestern Ontario, where she spent much of her childhood exploring “open spaces full of green in every direction.” Her lifelong fascination with the natural world led her to a PhD in molecular plant systematics and research on rare plant species in South America. Zimmerman writes rapturously of her work (focusing closely on a specific specimen “felt spiritual, like time spent in quiet worship before a vast and intricate cosmos”) and argues that botany, despite its waning popularity, is crucial in combating the effects of climate change because it aims to understand and catalog changes in biodiversity. She also writes of the hostility she faced from superiors when she became pregnant, which drove her to abandon her research career for one in science reporting and medical ghostwriting. Intriguingly, she compares the “impoverishment of genetic potential” that results from plant extinction to the exodus of new mothers like her from the sciences. Throughout, Zimmerman’s enthusiasm and expertise make the science accessible even to those without a background in the subject. The results are as edifying as they are galvanizing. Illus. Agent: Jessica Papin, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Apr.)