Where Our Food Comes From

by Gary Paul Nabhan

(Retracing Nikolay Vavilov's Quest to End Famine)

A wonderful and important book about a Soviet scientist in the 20's and 30's and his quest to find and record how farmers all over the world create and use different varieties of crops which are the best protection against disease and are able to genetically change crops under changing conditions such as drought or temperature change.

Nabhan returns to some of the countries in the 2000's that Vavilov visited to see what changes to take place.

The Queen's Conjurer

by Benjamin Woolley

About John Dee was for a while, an adviser to Queen Elizabeth in the late 16th century. He was a late Renaissance Englishman who was well versed in mathematics, the sciences and astrology. He had a very extensive library which was rare back then of many of the most important books of his day. He also was one of the first people to suggest to the Queen that England build an empire. But like many of these learned men, he tapped into the spiritual world and got advice from angels and spirits which through the rumors spreading about this lead to him falling into disfavor with the Queen.