Product Description

Mushrooms magically spew forth from the earth in the hours that follow a summer rain. Fuzzy brown molds mischievously turn forgotten peaches to slime in the kitchen fruit bowl. And in thousands of other ways, members of the kingdom Fungi do their part to make life on Earth the miracle that it is. In this lively book, George Hudler leads us on a tour of an often-overlooked group of organisms, which differ radically from both animals and plants. Along the way the author stops to ponder the marvels of nature and the impact of mere microbes on the evolution of civilization. Nature's ultimate recyclers not only save us from drowning in a sea of organic waste, but also provide us with food, drink, and a wide array of valuable medicines and industrial chemicals.

Some fungi make deadly poisons and psychedelic drugs that have interesting histories in and of themselves, and Hudler weaves tales of those into his scientific account of the nature of the fungi. The role of fungi in the Irish potato famine, in the Salem Witch Trials, in the philosophical writings of Greek scholars, and in the creation of ginger snaps are just a few of the many great moments in history to grace these pages.

Hudler moves so easily from discussing human history to exploring scientific knowledge, all with a sense of humor and enthusiasm, that one can well understand why he is an award-winning teacher both at Cornell University as well as nationally. Few, for instance, who read his invitation to "get out of your chair and take a short walk" will ever again look without curiosity and admiration at the "rotten" part of the world around them. Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds is full of information that will satisfy history buffs, science enthusiasts, and anyone interested in nature's miracles. Everyone in Hudler's audience will develop a new appreciation of the debt they owe to the molds for such common products as penicillin, wine, and bread.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1325116 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-16
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .68" h x 5.98" w x 8.97" l, .80 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 264 pages

From Amazon.com
Oh, to be young and eligible to enroll in Professor George Hudler's "Plant Pathology 101" class at Cornell! For those of us who aren't, this book is the next best thing--a hugely entertaining introduction to spore lore. Not only does he bring us up to speed on the fungus science, he relates the amazing impact of his branch of science on human history. The Eleusinian Mysteries that so inspired Plato and Sophocles were probably caused by ergot, which Tim Leary and the CIA put to scarier use in its refined form, LSD. Other fungal products are more upbeat: penicillin (Hudler tells a good story about British scientists who put its spores on their clothes in 1940, to preserve their research in case Germany invaded), cyclosporins, which permit such organ recipients as David Crosby not to reject their healthy new livers, and Beano, a derivative of alpha-d-galactosidase that suppresses flatulence in humans. Want to commit the perfect murder? Try aflatoxin, as a Graham Greene character does in The Human Factor. Do you dare to recreate the hallucinations of the Salem witches? Ergot's just the thing, as characters discover to their misfortune in Robin Cook's thriller Acceptable Risk. Hudler packs plenty of intriguing stories into a brief, readable book: exploding artillery fungus, spores spread by earthquakes that can cause anorexia, a 35-acre spread of 1,500-year-old identical mushrooms in Michigan that may be the oldest, biggest living thing on Earth. No question about it--Dr. Hudler is one fun guy. --Tim Appelo

From Publishers Weekly
While most people might not think mushrooms and molds to be fascinating creatures, Hudler, professor of plant pathology at Cornell University, does a remarkable job proving them wrong. In this thoroughly entertaining book, he demonstrates that fungi are much more than slimy, disgusting, disease-causing organisms; in fact, they have dramatically influenced the course of human history. With chapters on yeasts used to make bread and to brew alcoholic beverages, on the medicinal uses of fungi from penicillin to possible treatments for AIDS, on edible mushrooms like the common button mushroom and the more exotic truffle, and on hallucinogenic mushrooms, Hudler takes readers on an enthralling and informative tour of this much maligned kingdom. Fungi do have a downside and Hudler doesn't gloss over their ill effects, discussing the havoc arising from the failure of the Irish potato crop (caused by Phytophthora infestans) and the misery and starvation attributable to ergot (Claviceps purpurea) contamination of grains, including, likely, the events associated with the Salem witch trials. He also covers a host of fungi-involved human diseases, from athlete's foot to yeast infections and histoplasmosis. Hudler even explains that chemicals in ergot, when ingested, can lead to formication, or "a sensation of ants crawling over the body." With a chapter providing advice for those interested in collecting wild mushrooms, there's something in this wonderful volume for just about every taste. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
True, you don't think you're interested in fungus, but when a patron asks for a book on molds and fungi, this is the most entertaining and informative one there is. It's hard to make fungus interesting, but Hudler has done it, just as he has in his popular plant pathology classes at Cornell University. After a review of history and some basic science, Hudler gets into the entertainment: fungus's effects on everything from bread and wine to penicillin, Dutch elm disease, the Irish potato famine, and sick-building syndrome. Edible and hallucinogenic mushrooms are discussed in scientific and cultural contexts. Sidebars on "Humongous Fungus," "Lip-Smacking Smut," and molds in mystery novels as well as numerous illustrations actually make this a fun book. There are no comparable titles in print. While advanced for high school students, this is excellent for college and public library collections, where needed.ALaura E. Lipton, Ctr. for Urban Horticulture, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.