Michael Pollan (and Yoda) at TED

Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire, shows the power of evolutionary explanations by taking a plant’s eye view of agriculture. It’s not just the content that I like, the presentation style is worth examining too.

The talk is definitely more in the style of a naked Yoda than Darth Vader. It’s lacking details, but I never get those from a scientific talk anyway. While it’s not a compelling scientific argument of itself, it did inspire me to follow up on what he was talking about by getting the book.

About Alun Salt

Alun Salt is the web developer for AoB Blog. If something doesn't work here it's his fault. His interest in biology is personal as, even allowing for the Extended Mind Hypothesis, a lot of him remains biological. When he's not here he's working on a UNESCO Science Heritage project.