Interesting memoir from paleobotanist Hope Jahren. She intersperses short chapters on plant life with vignettes from her life and career. Interesting because she clearly imparts a love for science as well as relates the shittiness of being a scientist. Other than when she identified the minerals that make up opal as the same mineral used by a tree to create nearly impervious seeds, Jahren does not dwell on the actual scientific process she's pursuing. It's mostly the tedium of creating things needed for experiments, the unfortunate discarding of specimens she tried to smuggle out of Ireland from an impromptu collection, and similar tales from being a scientist. I got a great sense of what her life as a scientist is like, but very few details of the actual science. I'm not sure how I feel about that, as I wasn't quite prepared for it. Extremely well written.