The human race is completely dependent on plants. Many people, however, give little thought to plants' importance, often seeing them as closer to inanimate objects than fellow living things. Science journalist Zoë Schlanger challenges that view in her engrossing book The Light Eaters, which explores current knowledge of how plants experience the world around them.

The first two chapters provide background for the concept of plant behavior, the field of botany and the broader process of science. Schlanger explains how scientists' reluctance to accept new ideas that challenge existing paradigms both slows scientific discovery and acts as a "bulwark against quackery." She discusses Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird's 1973 book The Secret Life of Plants, which gained bestseller status but contained such a "mix of real science, flimsy experiments, and ...