Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest Paperback - 1994
by Mark J. Plotkin
Western medicine is only just beginning to value the curative powers of plants and herbs found in the Amazon rain forests. The story of ethnobotanist Mark Plotkins's apprenticeship with shaman wise men of the area is truly an anthropological adventure, that also vividly clarifies what destruction of the rain forests may ultimately cost humanity.Photos.
Summary
For thousands of years, healers have used plants to cure illness. Aspirin, the world's most widely used drug, is based on compounds originally extracted from the bark of a willow tree, and more than a quarter of medicines found on pharmacy shelves contain plant compounds. Now Western medicine, faced with health crises such as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer, has begun to look to the healing plants used by indigenous peoples to develop powerful new medicines. Nowhere is the search more promising than in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest, home to a quarter of all botanical species on this planet—as well as hundreds of Indian tribes whose medicinal plants have never been studied by Western scientists. In Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, ethnobotanist Mark J. Plotkin recounts his travels and studies with some of the most powerful Amazonian shamans, who taught him the plant lore their tribes have spent thousands of years gleaning from the rain forest.
For more than a decade, Dr. Plotkin has raced against time to harvest and record new plants before the rain forests' fragile ecosystems succumb to overdevelopment—and before the Indians abandon their own culture and learning for the seductive appeal of Western material culture. Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice relates nine of the author's quests, taking the reader along on a wild odyssey as he participates in healing rituals; discovers the secret of curare, the lethal arrow poison that kills in minutes; tries the hallucinogenic snuff epena that enables the Indians to speak with their spirit world; and earns the respect and fellowship of the mysterious shamans as he proves that he shares both their endurance and their reverence for the rain forest. Mark Plotkin combines the Darwinian spirit of the great writer-explorers of the nineteenth century—curious, discursive, and rigorously scientific—with a very modern concern for the erosion of our environment and the vanishing culture of native peoples.
Details
- Title Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest
- Author Mark J. Plotkin
- Binding Paperback
- Edition Later Printing
- Pages 352
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Penguin Books, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
- Date August 1, 1994
- Features Glossary
- ISBN 9780140129915 / 014012991X
- Weight 0.53 lbs (0.24 kg)
- Dimensions 7.74 x 5.06 x 0.68 in (19.66 x 12.85 x 1.73 cm)
- Ages 18 to UP years
- Grade levels 13 - UP
-
Themes
- Ethnic Orientation: Native American
- Library of Congress subjects Plotkin, Mark J, Indians of South America - Ethnobotany -
- Dewey Decimal Code 581.634
Media reviews
Citations
- Publishers Weekly, 07/04/1994, Page 0
More Copies for Sale
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest
by Plotkin, Mark J.
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991x
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Frederick, Maryland, United States
- Item Price
-
A$6.91A$6.15 shipping to USA
Show Details
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest
by Plotkin, Mark J.
- Used
- good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991x
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Conway, Arkansas, United States
- Item Price
-
A$7.69A$4.63 shipping to USA
Show Details
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice : An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest
by Mark J. Plotkin
- Used
- Acceptable
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991X
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
A$9.24FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice : An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest
by Mark J. Plotkin
- Used
- Acceptable
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991X
- Quantity Available
- 15
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
A$9.24FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice : An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest
by Mark J. Plotkin
- Used
- Acceptable
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991X
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
A$9.24FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice : An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest
by Mark J. Plotkin
- Used
- good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991X
- Quantity Available
- 4
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
A$9.33FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest
by Plotkin, Mark J.
- Used
- Condition
- UsedGood
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991X
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Interlochen, Michigan, United States
- Item Price
-
A$9.48FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice : An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest
by Plotkin, Mark J
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991x
- Quantity Available
- 5
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Item Price
-
A$10.27FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice : An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest
by Plotkin, Mark J
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991x
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Item Price
-
A$10.27FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice : An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest
by Plotkin, Mark J
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780140129915 / 014012991x
- Quantity Available
- 2
- Seller
-
Reno, Nevada, United States
- Item Price
-
A$10.67FREE shipping to USA