Fionnáin reviewed Mycelium running by Paul Stamets
Mycoremediation: building worlds through fungi
3 stars
Paul Stamets is one of the celebrities of the current fashion of all things mycological. He is well documented as a passionate lover of fungi and he is an excellent communicator. Mycelium Running is often considered his key book on many aspects of what he has learned through a lifetime of work in forestry and botany. It is presented like a school text-book, with full colour images and multiple paragraphs per page.
The first half of the book explores some of the literature of fungi and mushrooms, and some of the new developments in this area. A lot of emphasis is placed on the potential uses of fungi, for example in industry as a gobbler of pollutants. Stamets writes like a teacher, explaining in simple paragraphs how mycelia work, how fungi grow, what a mushroom is. He then leaps into some very technical information about patents on uses of fungi, …
Paul Stamets is one of the celebrities of the current fashion of all things mycological. He is well documented as a passionate lover of fungi and he is an excellent communicator. Mycelium Running is often considered his key book on many aspects of what he has learned through a lifetime of work in forestry and botany. It is presented like a school text-book, with full colour images and multiple paragraphs per page.
The first half of the book explores some of the literature of fungi and mushrooms, and some of the new developments in this area. A lot of emphasis is placed on the potential uses of fungi, for example in industry as a gobbler of pollutants. Stamets writes like a teacher, explaining in simple paragraphs how mycelia work, how fungi grow, what a mushroom is. He then leaps into some very technical information about patents on uses of fungi, or on untested discoveries. The second half is a practical guide to growing and using mushrooms, and contains a breadth of information on topics like "mycoremediation", Stamets' word for using mycological knowledge to help soil and wild habitats restore.
Unfortunately, while Stamets is passionate, the book is a little dry. There are also some broad claims about the unproven potential of fungi as remediators and restorers that I might enjoy, but that are not substantiated in the book. However, despite any complaints, this book is accessible and of interest to anyone who would like to try to save the world through fungi (a noble goal!).