Biology:Entangled Life

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Short description: 2020 non-fiction book by Merlin Sheldrake
Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures
Entangled Life Merlin Sheldrake.jpg
AuthorMerlin Sheldrake
CountryEngland
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon fiction
PublisherRandom House
Publication date
12 May 2020
Media typePrint
Pages368
AwardWainwright Prize for writing on global conservation
ISBNISBN:978-0-525-51031-4

Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures is a 2020 non-fiction book on mycology by British biologist Merlin Sheldrake. His first book,[1][2][3] it was published by Random House on 12 May 2020.[4]

Summary

The book looks at fungi from a number of angles, including decomposition, fermentation, nutrient distribution, psilocybin production, the evolutionary role fungi play in plants, and the ways in which humans relate to the fungal kingdom.[1][5][6][7] It uses music and philosophy to illustrate its thesis,[8] and introduces readers to a number of central strands of research on mycology.[9] It is also a personal account of Sheldrake's experiences with fungi.[6]

Sheldrake is an expert in mycorrhizal fungi,[10] holds a PhD in tropical ecology from the University of Cambridge for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama, where he was a predoctoral research fellow of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,[11] and he is on the advisory board of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN). His research is primarily in the fields of fungal biology and the history of Amazonian ethnobotany.[12] He is the son of Rupert Sheldrake, a New Age author, and Jill Purce, an author and therapist, and the brother of musician Cosmo Sheldrake.[5][11][13]

Reception

The book was published to largely positive reviews. Jennifer Szalai of The New York Times called the book an "ebullient and ambitious exploration" of fungi, adding, "reading it left me not just moved but altered, eager to disseminate its message of what fungi can do."[1] Eugenia Bone of The Wall Street Journal called it "a gorgeous book of literary nature writing in the tradition of [Robert] Macfarlane and John Fowles, ripe with insight and erudition."[5] Rachel Cooke of The Observer called it "an astonishing book that could alter our perceptions of fungi forever."[11] Richard Kerridge, reviewing the book in The Guardian , wrote that "when we look closely [at fungi], we meet large, unsettling questions... [Sheldrake] carries us easily into these questions with ebullience and precision."[8]

The book was named on Time (magazine) magazine's list of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020,[14] and The Daily Telegraph list of the 50 Best Books of 2020,[15] and was chosen as one of the best nature books of 2020 by The Times.[16] It was serialized on BBC Radio 4 as the book of the week,[17] and is a Sunday Times best-seller.[18] It won the Wainwright Prize in the Global Conservation Writing category,[19] the Guild of Food Writers First Book Award,[20] and the 2021 Royal Society Science Books Prize.[21] It was shortlisted for the 2021 British Book Award for Non-Fiction: Narrative Book of the Year.[22]

Entangled Life was an inspiration for the Spring 2021 couture collection by Iris van Herpen.[23]

Sheldrake presented the documentary "Fungi: Web of Life", narrated by Björk.[24]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Szalai, Jennifer (2020-05-27). "Whether You're Making a Meal or Cleaning an Oil Spill, There's a Fungus for That" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/books/review-entangled-life-fungi-merlin-sheldrake.html. 
  2. Carey, John (23 August 2020). "Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake, review" (in en). The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/entangled-life-how-fungi-make-our-worlds-change-our-minds-and-shape-our-futures-merlin-sheldrake-review-8b9f3k65q. 
  3. "Review of Entangled Life". 2 March 2020. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/merlin-sheldrake/entangled-life/. 
  4. Hsu, Hua (18 May 2020). "The Secret Lives of Fungi". The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/the-secret-lives-of-fungi. Retrieved 31 August 2020. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Bone, Eugenia (22 May 2020). "'Entangled Life' Review: Digging Into Enigmatic Organisms". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/entangled-life-review-digging-into-enigmatic-organisms-11590184908. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Li, Gege (3 June 2020). "There is so much we don't yet know about fungi". New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632850-900-there-is-so-much-we-dont-yet-know-about-fungi/. 
  7. Cook, Gareth (24 June 2020). "A Poetic, Mind-Bending Tour of the Fungal World". Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-poetic-mind-bending-tour-of-the-fungal-world/. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 Kerridge, Richard (2020-08-27). "Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake review - from funghi to questions of identity" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/27/entangled-life-by-merlin-sheldrake-review-a-brilliant-door-opener-book. 
  9. Dunn, Rob (2020-05-12). "An ode to fungi reminds readers that the mundane can be sublime" (in en-US). https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2020/05/12/entangled-life/. 
  10. Macfarlane, Robert (7 August 2016). "The Secrets of the Wood Wide Web". The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-secrets-of-the-wood-wide-web. Retrieved 31 August 2020. 
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Cooke, Rachel (23 August 2020). "The future is fungal: why the 'megascience' of mycology is on the rise". The Observer. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/aug/23/the-future-is-fungal-why-the-megascience-of-mycology-is-on-the-rise. 
  12. Harpignies, JP (7 July 2020). "Interview with Merlin Sheldrake, Author of Entangled Life". Bioneers. https://bioneers.org/interview-merlin-sheldrake-entangled-life-ztvz2007/. 
  13. "S02E12 Jill Purce on Overtone Chanting and Ancestral Healing". Medicine Path Podcast. https://medicinepathpodcast.com/podcast/s02e12-jillpurce. 
  14. "The 100 Must-Read Books of 2020". Time. 11 November 2020. https://time.com/collection/must-read-books-2020/5904405/entangled-life/. 
  15. "The 50 Best Books of 2020". The Daily Telegraph. 1 December 2020. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/50-best-books-2020/. 
  16. "Best nature books of the year 2020". The Times. 29 November 2020. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/best-nature-books-of-the-year-2020-vp0wjzs5j. 
  17. "Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake". BBC Radio 4. 23 November 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pm12. 
  18. "Entangled Life". https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1115381/entangled-life/9781847925190.html. 
  19. Flood, Alison (2021-09-07). "Wainwright prize for nature writing goes to James Rebanks for English Pastoral" (in en). https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/07/wainwright-prize-for-nature-writing-goes-to-james-rebanks-for-english-pastoral. 
  20. "Awards 2021 Winners". http://www.gfw.co.uk/2021/awards-2021-winners/. 
  21. Bayley, Sian (2021-11-29). "Sheldrake wins Royal Society Science Book Prize with 'illuminating' fungi book". The Bookseller. https://www.thebookseller.com/news/sheldrake-wins-royal-society-science-book-prize-illuminating-book-fungi-1291613#. 
  22. "Book of the Year - Non-fiction: Narrative". https://www.thebookseller.com/british-book-awards/non-fiction-narrative. 
  23. Borrelli-Persson, Laird (25 January 2021). "Iris van Herpen: Spring 2021 Couture". Vogue. https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2021-couture/iris-van-herpen. 
  24. "Home" (in en). https://www.fungimovie.com/. 

External links