Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures

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Not so long ago the only wild fungus that the British even thought about picking was the humble field mushroom, and most people were so scared of eating something dangerous that they wouldn’t even touch those. Merlin is an expert storyteller, weaving the tale of our co-evolution with fungi into a scientific adventure.

I do my best to share these connections with readers in an accurate, truthful way to help them find their own “ah-ha” moments in life. After reading Sheldrake's masterpiece I am more convinced than ever that we will never solve the grave problems of our times unless we deeply re-entangle our lives ‘fungus-style’ into the living fabric of our lustrous planet. I love one of this book’s underlying messages, that someone can be an artist AND a scientist; there’s no need to choose one or the other. There’s a feeling of wonder about all of Sheldrake’s sentences which would disarm the most hardened cynic.Each country has its own idiosyncrasies – its own selection of things traditionally eaten and things traditionally rejected. So the book is really the beautifully photographed and organised work of many talented mycologists, and perhaps its only flaw was not to mention and accredit the scores of talented mycologists who helped in its making. They’re busy doing all sorts of things, from giving you a cold and making yogurt to eroding mountains and helping to make the air we breathe. We all know Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated Peter Rabbit and other children’s books, but how many people are aware that young Beatrix was a groundbreaking mushroom scientist?

Entangled Life provides a window into the mind-boggling biology and fascinating cultures surrounding fungal life. The more attentive already realise that the material from which that mesh is woven is partly fungal. Marilyn Roossinck’s book introduces the subject of virology with succinct descriptions and superb illustrations. In the 1980s I was a maverick because as an organic market gardener, my work was mostly seen as irrelevant to society, producing food that was expensive and for only a few people.

This book will clearly be a desired acquisition for all mushroom hunters, both amateur and experienced [. In some European nations where gathering fungi has always been a national pastime, cases of poisoning caused by wild fungi are counted in their tens of thousands annually. Instead it has lots of detailed photographs and ticklists for positive identification of 25 of the best and most common edible species. Puff-balls, more than a foot in diameter; mouls in jam-pots; dry rot; truffles; these are examples of the wide range of the Group, comprising over 100,000 species. The only courses I currently run that people can book individual places on are the fungi sessions in Hemsted Forest.

We perceive ourselves as autonomous, discrete individuals with an unchanging inner self that persists throughout our lifetime, but this is an illusion. Whether you’re cured by a fungus, or watch it cure someone else; whether you build your home from fungi, or start growing mushrooms in your home, fungi will catch you in the act. This pocket-sized compendium is a lively combination of clearly explained science, entertaining cultural references and potted biographies of leading personalities in the world of mycology.Featured quite prominently are illustrations by James Sowerby (1757–1822), Joseph-Henri Léveillé (1796–1870), Anna Maria Hussey (1805–1853), and Elsie Maud Wakefield (1886–1972). The Observer's book Of Common Fungi: Describing Nearly 200 Species, With 32 Plates In Full Colour By Ernest C. She takes us through her academic career in the forests of Canada and North America, working on tree plantations and eventually discovering that trees coordinate themselves through a network of mycorrhizal fungi that heals, feeds and sustains the entire forest. Once enticed in to this quirky kingdom, the magical mix of majesty and mystery has enough power to captivate the interest for a lifetime. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

Conservation organisations are often criticised for using charismatic animals to engage public interest. What makes this book different: The sheer number of fun and unexpected facts will make most people go “Wow! Just stopping by to say Edible Mushrooms has transformed a very gloomy Summer-Autumn transition (2020) into one of the most enjoyable and rewarding periods I can remember. Back in print, this unmodified reprint of the second edition incorporates recent taxonomic name changes resulting from recent DNA analysis, together with previously common synonyms and the British Mycological Society's recommended English names of fungi species.He valued and explains the importance of compost and mycorrhizal fungi, and coined a phrase that has become a mantra: ”Feed the soil not the plant”. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms – and our relationships with them – are changing our understanding of how life works. And we’ve responded with a desire to re-learn ancient and forgotten skills, from growing our own food, to making essential items using pre-industrial technologies, knitting and mending old clothes, right back to knowing how to track animals and start fires without matches. What makes this book different: The excursus about fungi, their metabolism and lifestyles — and the fact that fungi are described as “the third kingdom” in a book from 1968 — towards the middle of the book is quite impressive. It also helps that the book is also not a hefty volume, so not too daunting for those that are new to fungi.