The Science of Plants

Reviewed by Paula Mejia Velasquez, Adjunct Professor, Leeward Community College on 12/8/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book is a great resource for an introductory-level class on Horticulture or botany, covering most of the topics usually addressed in a class at the undergrad level. Some topics are explained in more detail than others, but all the topics presented in the book are well explained. An important topic that is not included in the book is ecology, explaining different ways that plants interact with other organisms (e.g. animals, plants, fungi).

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content of the book appears accurate, and the topics are presented in a neutral, not biased way.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The topics covered in the book are relevant for an introductory plant science class at an undergrad level. In terms of longevity, most of the material should still be relevant in the long term, but other topics, like taxonomy, would probably need to be updated every so often.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is easy to follow and read, at a level that is accessible and understandable for undergrad students. A list of terms or glossary is included in each chapter and at the end of the book, this helps students that need more explanation on a term.

Consistency rating: 5

The book is consistent from beginning to end, presenting a similar writing style and format.

Modularity rating: 5

The organization of the chapters and the subunits is clear and consistent. Individual chapters or subunits can be found easily on the chapter outline, making it easy to alter the order of the book content based on teaching preferences.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

Each chapter consists of a brief introduction, learning objectives, the topic per se, and a glossary. This structure is similar to most textbooks and I think it works great. However, I had a hard time with the order that the topics are presented in this book. In my opinion, the organization of the chapters could follow a different order to improve the flow of the book. There are several concepts/topics in the book that are grouped with concepts/topics that do not seem to be closely related, and that maybe would fit better under other more related chapters. For example, flower morphology is grouped in a chapter with meristems, plant taxonomy is grouped with seed germination, and plant growth is grouped with inflorescences. It would probably make more sense to group flower morphology with inflorescences, and meristems with plant growth. In a specific example, seed germination is presented in Chapter 2 as section 2.2, but a more comprehensive chapter on seeds is included in Chapter 9. I think the seed germination section would be a better fit for Chapter 9, and leave Chapter 2 as a taxonomic chapter.

Interface rating: 4

The textbook is available in different formats, including pdf, word, xml, ebook, and online. I explored the online and pdf versions and found them easy to navigate. The online version includes short videos that expand on some topics, as well as embedded h5p interactive activities to test comprehension and increase student engagement. The pdf version on the other hand does not have the videos or interactive activities embedded, instead, it provides links to them. However, some of the links provided do not work (e.g. links on pages 12 -13). I would recommend using the online version of the book.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no significant amount of grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I did not find the book to be culturally insensitive or offensive. It is mainly focused on plants found in northern temperate areas. Including some tropical examples could make this book more attractive to a wider audience.

Comments

This book does a great job of covering and explaining basic plant and horticultural science concepts that are typically included in an introductory-level botany or horticulture class. I really liked that it includes videos, a glossary, interactive activities (i.e. h5p), and other supplementary materials (i.e. review questions and Quizlet flashcards), as I think they are great tools to complement the content of the book and engage students. The book is easy to read, each chapter includes specific learning outcomes, a chapter outline, a summary, and review questions. I disagree with the order the topics are presented, but each instructor could easily address this by assigning the chapters in a different order.