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From The Critics
Reviewer: Qi Chen, Ph.D(University of Kansas Medical Center)Description: This unique book is the first to provide comprehensive information about 1,500 species of plants used for the smoke they produce, categorized into nine main uses, with details on some highly popular species such as tobacco, cannabis, and jimsonweed.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide a comprehensive account of the ethnobotanical uses of the plants that are burned for smoke, and the huge socioeconomic impact that these plants have had throughout history. Plants are essential in human life and culture, and the use of plant-derived smoke is an important cultural trait that should be documented. Novel compounds that have medical and other potential uses are quite possible awaiting discovery from the combustion of a plant.
Audience: This should be interesting to botanists, ethnoscientists, medical professionals, pharmacologists, anthropologists, historians, theologians, as well as plant lovers. The authors are experts in ethnobotany, restoration ecology, and plant biology and conservation.
Features: The book collects a wealth of information on the uses and users of close to 1,500 plant species for medicinal and recreational purposes, magico-religious ceremonies, pest control, food preservation and flavoring, perfumes, in veterinary medicine, and other toxic or unspecified uses. Following the introduction, an alphabetical list of the plants that are burned for smoke provides the common name of the plant, the country where the uses were reported, the names of the groups of people who used the plants, the parts of the plants used, and the purpose of the uses. Many important species are highlighted with pictures and detailed descriptions, such as the popular uses of tobacco, jimsonweed, and junipers.
Assessment: This book provides rich and interesting information about the global and historical use of plant-derived smoke. I am not aware of another book in this field. It is a valuable contribution and should be an important resource for medical professionals and researchers who are interested in the many ways that plants and plants-derived smoke have impacted our lives and cultures.
Overview
Plants provide the food, shelter, medicines, and biomass that underlie sustainable life. One of the earliest and often overlooked uses of plants is the production of smoke, dating to the time of early hominid species. Plant-derived smoke has had an enormous socio-economic impact throughout human history, being burned for medicinal and recreational purposes, magico-religious ceremonies, pest control, food preservation, and flavoring, perfumes, and incense.
This illustrated global...