‘I did suffer terribly from early-onset geekiness’

Botanist James Wong on the five books he wouldn’t part with

Iadmit it, I am a bit of a book hoarder. In fact, when I last moved house I picked my flat primarily on the basis of it having enough shelf space to accommodate my ever-growing collection but if I had to clear them all out tomorrow, here are the five I could never, ever bear to part with.

1

Some kids have a favourite teddy or maybe a blanket that they have an inexplicably close emotional attachment to. For me, aged 7, it was a book: The Houseplant Expert by Dr D. G. Hessayon. (Yes, I am the first to admit I did suffer terribly from early-onset geekiness.) With its hundreds of colour illustrations for all sorts of plant projects, from tiny terrariums to miniature gardens to lush planted fish tanks, it was magical to me; a sort of storybook that taught me how to create my own miniature worlds to have adventures in. As a child growing up in the extreme academic pressure of a Singapore State school, it was my everyday escape and, 30 years later, it’s still hands-down the best gardening book out there.

2

Now, I know this isn’t exactly cool or highbrow either but I also have a weird affection to my original early 1990s’ copy of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. It’s so old school, it predates the movie release, with “soon to be a major motion picture” proudly emblazoned on the cover. First spied on the shelves of my high school library, I remember reading it locked in my bedroom in a single day. I loved its colourful flight of fantasy mixed with a (sort of) scientific slant so much, I went out the next day to get it with saved pocket money as I knew I was going to need my own copy so I could re-read it whenever I wanted.

3

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling is also on this list for its beautiful writing that vividly evokes the imagery of lush, forested escapes. Yet these are my only two fiction books, amid a collection of hundreds of science titles, spanning deeply dry academic reference to much lighter popular science.

4

Possibly my favourites from the latter camp is The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan but perhaps not for the reason you might think. One of the world’s most influential popular food writers, I think the science behind some of Pollan’s claims is sometimes a little shaky and perhaps carefully selected to match a nostalgic narrative more than reality. However, the way he beautifully crafts his narratives is nothing short of inspirational. In the world of us botanists, there are precious few people who also happen to be great storytellers (most of us would rather stare down a microscope at a collection of cells than deal with real people), so I think there is huge value in reading the work of those who are to make us better at explaining why plants are so damn important for the future of both people and planet.

5

Finally, the best science book I have come across recently is Is Butter A Carb? by

Rosie Saunt and Helen West, two dietitians who skilfully pick the fact from the fiction in the world of nutrition. Okay, I might just be a little biased here, as they also happen to have worked with me on my book, forensically double and triple-checking all the claims and recipes but anyone who reads their work will know that they are some of the best science communicators out there. Kew-trained botanist, science writer and broadcaster James Wong is based in London but travels widely to study under-utilised crop species, ethnopharmacology and traditional food systems in rural Ecuador, Java and China. He’s the author of internationally best-selling books Grow Your Own

Drugs and Homegrown Revolution and a TV presenter with a love of food which nearly eclipses his love of plants. His latest book, 10-a-day the easy

way, is out now (Hachette, $40).