Just a note to say I've seen the new book, Action Plant, by Paul Simon (as
announced in an earlier CP_Digest in March).
It is much smaller than A4 size and about 2 cm (less than an inch)
thick. Lots of lovely and even interesting words and a good few black
and white illustrations. I didn't get time to read it but I'm fairly
certain the content will be quite accurate both scientically and in lay
terms, Paul simon is botanically trained and qualified. The subject is
interesting as it refers to all those plants that move in a big way
(Dionaea, Drosera, some orchids, Stylidium, etc., etc.). however, there
appeared to be no colour pictures at all, including no colour
photographs (either that or they were well enough hidden to fool me!).
The price is 45 UK pounds (about 115 US Dollars) and in my opinion that
is seriously overpriced!!! At such high cost I would have expected at
least to see colour pictures of the plants mentioned and lots of them,
or a bigger book, or both. This sort of price is generally associated
with very thick reference works or highly pictorial works (books that
show lots of Orchid pictures come to mind).
So, sorry Paul Simon, but even though I count you as a friend I must say
that I think your publisher has done you a dis-service and priced the
book above the market. Maybe the price has been announced incorrectly,
I hope so.
Paul is certainly an expert on plant movement so if you are a fan of
such biology, I suggest you at least check out the book. But even
though it fits my book collection I can't justify buying it at this
price so I'll await a cheaper second hand copy!
Regards
Paul