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    Lab Girl
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    Lab Girl
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    Lab Girl
    Audiobook11 hours

    Lab Girl

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime friendship; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world

    Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she's studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book is a revelatory treatise on plant life-but it is also so much more.

    Lab Girl is an audiobook about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren's remarkable stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom's labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done "with both the heart and the hands"; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work.

    Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with a brilliant, wounded man named Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them from the Midwest across the United States and back again, over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.

    Jahren's probing look at plants, her astonishing tenacity of spirit, and her acute insights on nature enliven every minute of this extraordinary audiobook. Lab Girl opens your eyes to the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass, and flower petal. Here is an eloquent demonstration of what can happen when you find the stamina, passion, and sense of sacrifice needed to make a life out of what you truly love, as you discover along the way the person you were meant to be.

    Music for the Audio Edition:

    • Composed by Katelyn Sweeney Ching
    • Margaret Kocher, Cellist
    • Katelyn Sweeney Ching, Pianist
    • Mark Robinson, Audio Engineer
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 5, 2016
    ISBN9781101890202
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Lab Girl

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      LOVED IT!!
      The best thing I've read in a while. The chapters alternate between interesting facts about plants and trees, and a very engaging memoire. The author has a fabulous sense of humor, has led an interesting life, and beguiles the reader with tales of plant biology.
    • 5/5
      Memoir of woman botanist and her early years as a scientist. She alternates her life story with musings about plant life. What makes this narrative 'sing' is the author's voice and humor. Jahren makes hard scientific research seem like a good thing to do. Who knew soil science, watching plants grow, digging through compost, working 24 hour shifts and blowing up labs could be so entertaining?! I would hand this book to every girl (with half a brain) that I know.
    • 5/5
      A real treat of a memoir that might have evaporated into mawkishness, but was rescued by the author's winning charm and self awareness. Just like the seeds and the trees researched and discussed, the author grows and blossoms throughout forever seeking the light and ultimately triumphing over adversity. It's a fine piece of work that delights and illuminates. Earthy, hardy and potentially perennial.
    • 4/5
      When, halfway through, Jahren suddenly revealed her bipolar disorder, the book got a lot more interesting. I found the chapters about trees boring, I'm a bit ashamed to admit. But her relationship with Bill, then how she and her husband integrated Bill, and the birth of her son were all very interesting.
    • 5/5
      A great book, heard as audio tape read by the author. It was inspiring to hear her read this, as her own emotions probably highlighted the words more than a stranger could have. You could really feel her winding up in hyperactivity or enthusing about some new question that's caught her attention. I didn't realize some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of funding science even for professors.I thought I knew a lot about science, the human body, and plants, but I learned some new interesting facts. Yes, she does anthropomorphize plants, but I think that makes concepts more accessible to people who don't have a strong science foundation.Toward the end, she writes more as if she's trying to summarize the lessons she's learned. That didn't hold my attention as well in the audio version, but I think I'd be able to take it in better in a print version.
    • 4/5
      A poignant memoir of a female botanist, as she experienced years of struggling for funding, balancing her curiosity for plants with the demands of providing for a scientific laboratory, working with a close friend, and building a life in academia. Fascinating and illuminating about the lot of scientists today, the kind of work scientists do, and how it is funded.
    • 5/5
      Amazing book - heard it on audio - read by the author. Highly, Highly recommend it - will never forget it.
    • 3/5
      This memoir by a scientist, a botanist, was interesting for the most part. I enjoyed learning more about plant life, and felt a bit guilty while thinning seedlings in my vegetable garden.I absolutely hated reading about the gorilla in a roadside zoo-type attraction. I hate that the author went there. I hate that animals live decades in misery for our entertainment and the owners' profits. It seems that every time I read a memoir lately, it is about someone with mental health issues, someone who needs medication. While I am happy that the medication is helping, reading about it gets tiresome. I wanted to read about plants and the science thereof, and I got too much very personal information.Still, this was an interesting book. But my heart breaks for that gorilla and the others like him.I borrowed this audio edition from my local library.
    • 4/5
      The Good StuffI never thought I could become so engrossed and truly mesmerized with a book that talks about plants and flowers BILL - I won't be able to plant a tree right now, but I will be putting Bill's name on the tree in the park just outside my gateSuch a fascinating, truly complicated womenShe made trees, plants and weeds come alive and made them feel human - you will finish reading this book with a true appreciation of all plant/tree life and want to do all you can to protect themHer writing is extremely poetic on many occasionsExtremely honest and rawHer description of a depressive episode are so bang on and raw - the courage to be so open about something so personal is so braveHopefully will inspire girls to enter the male dominated sciences fieldMakes you want to learn more - why oh why must our teachers make science so bloody boring - her passion for her work is thrilling and inspiring I love the relationship between her and Bill - this is my idea of true friendshipBill!!!Loved the kids story Bill made up - twisted but love itUmm the story about Hope's intern who worked in the zoo and had to put antibiotic on the monkeys genitals - yup worth the price of the bookThe Not So Good StuffThe audio version was hard for me to listen to as the author reads the book and while extremely passionate, it was hard to listen to her overwrought voice. This is just a personal observance and no judgement - it was just painful to listen to at times - I had to listen in installmentsI now have profound grief about how many plants I have killed over the years and have vowed to change that - bugger do you know how little of a green thumb I haveHer pronunciation of the word "root" is jarringFavorite Quotes/Passages“Working in the hospital teaches you that there are only two kinds of people in the world: the sick and the not sick. If you are not sick, shut up and help.”"We were interrupted by a good natured offer from a drunkish student who was dangerously armed with a guitar.""Within certain social circles of the married, a single women over the age of 30 inspires compassion similar to that bestowed upon a big friendly stray dog.4 Dewey'sI borrowed this from Leslie and I don't have to review but well we know I have to share
    • 4/5
      Excellent nonfiction book that inspired me to buy and plant a tree for my daughter's first birthday. The unusual friendship between a scientist and her lab assistant was particularly touching.
    • 4/5
      This memoir was simultaneously poignant, inspiring, lyrical, informative, and full of the science and unscientific aspects of life. I am struck by the modesty with which the author describes her struggles with mental illness and her determination. I am struck by her quiet amity to love unconditionally. Absolutely lovely!
    • 5/5
      Totally loved this book! This is a very readable book about a woman who dreams and becomes a scientist but who has to work twice as hard at what she loves because she is a woman. Along with her comes Bill, "her brilliant, eccentric lab partner." I hadn't realized that university employed professor had to scrape together the money for the equipment they need for their lab as well as for their employees. No wonder we're behind in the sciences! Our scientists have to worry about finances rather then make discoveries. I liked the format of her book into three parts; Roots and Leaves, Wood and Knots, and Flowers and Fruit. Within those sections she interspers.es her story with the biology of a tree or a plant. I like her website address too because this book shows it's true
    • 4/5
      3.5 When I first started reading this I was more interested in the chapters, which alternated with her personal story, on the trees and plants. That changed though as I read on. Loved her story too, her beginning passion for the sciences, her childhood and going with her dad to his lab, her first jobs which I found eye opening, and her wonderful long term friendship with Bill. He would become her lab partner, the person she bounced ideas off of and shared triumphs and disappointments with. The truly difficult work of starting a new lab, the constant quest for funding, grants and other studies. Trying to formulate new experiments that would be found worthy of significant money. The many years of struggle, constant paperwork and the tweaking of ideas. The chapters on plants, trees and seeds were illuminating but sometimes a bit mind boggling.. still learned and immeasurable amount there too.I was blown away by the clarity of her writing, her passion, her vulnerability all of which shone through in this book. Her honesty with her doubts, mistakes and the hard work that this type of career entails. This is a book to reread there is so much information in it about the nature we see out of our windows and take for granted. She showed me a whole different way of looking at these things. Simple wonderful.ARC from publisher.
    • 5/5
      The book hooked me at the beginning with the author's story of spending time with her father at his lab. The experience of that little girl's wonder is real and we see how that wonder stays with her. We see what doing science is like for her over a 20-year span and get the idea of the struggle and joys that scientists in general may experience. At the same time we know that this scientist is unique. This is her story and it is exceptionally interesting and well-told.
    • 5/5
      It was hard for me to put this book down. Unusual, but refreshing writing style, with short chapters that bounced between a journey through the process of becoming a scientist and providing fascinating facts about plants, and the planet. Also illuminating about how the world of science is-or isn't-supported. A very personal story that also weaves the challenges of dealing with a significant medical condition, family and a key colleague, and being a woman in science. I hope she writes more books in the future!
    • 4/5
      Lab Girl is a memoir/science-y book written by Hope Jahren, an award winning geobiologist. In the book she writes of both her career and personal life, and also gives a lot of information about the complex world of plant life. Jahren is a dedicated, inspiring, and talented individual, and her passion for what she does seeps through the pages. I admire her deep reverence for the natural world and her insatiable curiosity. I also appreciate her honesty in talking about her struggles with manic depression and all the doubts and setbacks she experienced along the way. Jahren writes a lot about Bill, her lab partner and best friend. They work together, travel together, and have done so for years, all while Jahren is happily married. I found their relationship intriguing, and like that it doesn't really fit neatly into any box. They obviously care about each other and that is what matters. On a side note, I just read an interesting article about Jahren taking over Seventeen Magazine's #ManicureMonday, which encourages people to post pictures of their manicures and nail art. Jahren instead encouraged people to post pictures of their hands doing things, manicured nails or not. Hoping to remind girls and women that what you do with your hands is just as beautiful as what they look like, the twitter feed totally changed, and the next Monday instead of manicured nails, the feed was full of women's hands taking samples from plants, holding test tubes and fossils, and doing other science things. I liked that.
    • 4/5
      As a former female scientist this book appealed to me even before I read it. Hope Jahren has a Ph.D. in soil science and has taught and run her own lab in three different institutions. On the other hand I only obtained a B.Sc., never did graduate work, never taught and always worked for some other scientist. So we don't have a lot in common but nevertheless I found her memoir fascinating. I listened to this book which was read by the author.Hope grew up in Minnesota, born to Scandinavian parents who were emotionally distant. Her father taught science at a community college and Hope (and her brothers) spent quite a bit of time in his lab while he was working. Perhaps this is what kindled her interest in science; she certainly never seemed to doubt that her field would be some branch of science. She must have been a prodigy since she obtained a cum laude Bacherlor's degree at the age of 21 and was accepted to University of California, Berkeley where she obtained her Ph.D 5 years later. While at Berkeley she met Bill Hagopian, another science student, who would become her friend and lab supervisor for all her subsequent work. They would pull all-nighters to get projects done and laugh and joke continuously. Bill was able to fix anything, a valuable trait when funds were scarce. Jahren worked first at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Although her salary was paid by the institute, the funds to run the lab and pay Bill had to come from grants. In the early days, before Jahren had established a reputation, grant funding was hard to obtain. At one point Bill was living out of his vehicle and when he couldn't do that anymore he lived in a room in the lab. After three years Jahren moved to John Hopkins University in Baltimore and Bill moved along with her. Despite the close nature of their relationship it never became a romance and in Baltimore Jahren met the man she would marry, Clint Conrad. An offer from the University of Hawaii convinced her to move her lab there primarily because it offered more stability for Bill. Jahren and Conrad had a son in Hawaii but the pregnancy was a time of anxiety because she had no good example to follow to learn how to parent She also was diagnosed with manic depression prior to becoming pregnant and had to go off all her medication while she was pregnant. Once her son was born Jahren seemed to become less manic, less anxious and she talks about her son and her husband with great love. Her work is still her passion and probably always will be but it is nice to see that she can enjoy other segments of her life.
    • 5/5
      One of her web addresses is hopejahrensurecanwrite.com. She sure can write, and she sure can teach based on this book--Jahren taught me a good deal about plants, soil and the struggles of research scientists, along with the obstacles men put in the way of women scientists. This is a moving, funny, fabulous book. Read it if you have not yet done so.
    • 4/5
      It wasn't until the end of this book that the author confessed to being a poet and lifelong writer. Not surprising after reading the lyrical prose in Lab Girl. I loved this book. Dr. Jahren is the common man's scientist. What she tells us about this living earth is easy to understand, fun to read, and important to know. The book is a loosely based memoir so she let's us see the "inner" Hope as she grew up and as she became her own person. A large part of the book is also her career-long partnership/friendship with Bill, her lab partner and best friend who has worked with her at every lab since college. It is a beautiful relationship. Coincidentally, I planted my very first tree, a bald cypress, 3 months ago and have been treating it as a newborn. I love seeing the daily changes as it grows. Reading this book has made me appreciate this tree so much more as well as providing me with new knowledge to better care for it.
    • 4/5
      I wasn't sure what to make of this book at first; it was not science-y enough to be a memoir about being a female scientist but then I realized that everything the author thinks, feels and writes is informed by her being a scientist; perhaps to (and well known to her) a fault. She's one of those innovative thinkers who can come up with something amazing to study because she's basically a weirdo and a square peg. Her relationship with her friend Bill is absolutely odd, wonderful and hilarious. I looked him up. He appears very normal on the University of Hawaii website. Pity.
    • 5/5
      This is an exceptional book by the author - made even more amazing considering it is her first - not counting multiple scientific papers. Her lyrical, emotional, and insightful insights into the life of a true scientist are eye-opening and a joy to read. This is one I will be recommending to everyone.
    • 4/5
      Before you go to cut the life out of another Christmas tree, read the tree and plant essays in LAB GIRL.Readers will likely deeply miss the loss of all those forests sacrificed to "celebrate" one holiday.Her beautiful words inspire a deeper attachment to any trees people have or will now want to plant, water, and care for.For ALL THAT good, it is hard to respect her description of the horror of a slaughterhouse as "magnificent."If she was being ironic, it was certainly lost. And her son being encouraged to beat a feeling tree is depressing -why not lead him to a drum instead of the eventual destruction of a living plant...?In between the inspiring plant stories are her real life adventures, which are devoted to and dependent onher friend and work partner, Bill. (A monk? Gay? Gay Monk? So totally in love with Lab Girl that hedoesn't want to ruin their near perfect balance by making any moves? or ???)Oddly, she bemoans her relationship with her mother, when many of us would have been thrilled with invitations togarden and enjoy an early life together, enriched by her incredible nightly trips to her father's lab.These seemingly emotionally reticent parents shared their lives and their passions with her!Equally oddly, she never appears to connect with them after leaving for college - visits? letters? email? gifts?were they even invited to her graduations? awards?Tedious is the constant emphasis on budget constraints, yet that pales as her behavior, mental state, frequent "greasy hair" and thin body appearancecontinue to disintegrate with no one taking her to a doctor or ER. Her impulsive manic states lead to near disasters.If young female scientists seek a role model here, they need to carefully sort out Manic Depressive behavior and symptomsfrom the realistic expectations for Lab behavior.Finally, on page 241, there is a reasonable explanation for all the UK bleach visual overuse of the words "bleeding" and "bloody."And, what happened to the Hackberry?
    • 4/5
      I read this book for the DeweyCat and found it also worked for memoir. Also discovered that this author is from Austen, Minnesota. I liked her writing and description of Minnesota but right off the bat, she exaggerates so keep that in mind when reading this. Winter does not start in September and last 9 months in Austen and it isn't that cold. Speaking as one from Northern Minnesota. I always say it can snow every month except July in Minnesota but really it isn't that bad and Austen in located nearly on the Iowa border. She describes a wonderful relationship with her father but for some reason must hate her mother even though they worked in the garden together. How can you hate your mother, she never gave us a good reason except she didn't think her mother showed love. She was okay with the stoic Norwegianess of her dad but disliked her mother. When she left home, she never looked back. She also reveals later in the book that she suffers from Bipolar illness. I suspect maybe a little personality disorder mixed in as well. She describes going through pregnancy with now medications. Perhaps, but I do think she made it more horrible than what it really should have been. What I liked. I liked the part about the plants and the science and how she "asks the questions" that lead to the research and the description of the difficulties of academia. Her lab partner was also eccentric. Pretty weird guy with great parents. I didn't get that either. And why didn't he complete his degrees. Usually colleges would have had some program for tuition of employees of the college. It's an easy read, entertaining and informative. Loved this quote, "Oh, I'm not worried about him," returned Bill. "He's gone (his father). It's not any more complicated than that. Honestly, if I admit it, it's me that I feel bad for." Really, that is what grief is.I also liked this; "We had them growing sweet potatoes under the greenhouse gas levels predicted for the next several years, the levels that we're likely to see if we, as a society, do nothing about carbon emissions. The potatoes grew bigger as carbon dioxide increased. this was not a surprise. We also saw that these big potatoes were less nutritious, much lower in protein content, no matter how much fertilizer we gave them." And the final word; plant a tree every year.
    • 4/5
      Jahren's science writing is elegant and lovely. The book is uneven, particularly when she reveals too much of her personal life. So I fell in love at the beginning of the book, slogged through the middle and was rewarded in the last quarter with a return to her science prose. The book is in such demand, that I had to order several formats in order to complete my reading.
    • 3/5
      This is a well-written book that uses alternating chapters--one describes some aspect of plants, trees, seeds and dirt's life and the next, some aspect of Hope Jahren's life as a paleobotanical or a geobiological researcher with her younger assistant, the very eccentric Bill. The book is serious. Jahren is a splendid, if unorthodox teacher, who spends hours in the lab as well as digging in the soil of Minnesota where she grew up in an almost silent household but with a science researcher father, in California, Maryland, and ultimately Norway. She shows us the trials and tribulations for seeds to grow as well as for her labs to thrive. At times it seems as if neither she nor Bill have any hope of living a "normal" life but by the end, Bill lives in a house and Hope Jahren has a loving father and child, is a marvelous teacher, and simply loves life and others. Recommended to me by Elizabeth Johnson.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful prose, a strong voice, and passion for science. I will be happy to read anything else Hope Jahren writes. Made me want to plant a tree.
    • 5/5
      This is one of those books that can change the way you view the natural world. A memoir starting with a childhood in rural Minnesota to J life’s passion of being a geobiologist running her own lab in Hawaii. A tale of sacrifice, friendship, passion, and serious dedication with fascinating and detailed insight into the complex and wondrous inner workings of plants. I highly recommend it.
    • 5/5
      A few years ago, I heard of a book, which seemed interesting. The Wild Trees by Richard Preston turned out to be much more than interesting. It changed forever my opinion of the giant redwoods inhabiting the Pacific North West. I have recently received a book from a friend, which repeats my experience with the trees. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren does for soil what Preston did for forests of giant sequoias, although Hope sprinkles some personal and professional obstacles she was forced to overcome.Jahren writes, “For several billion years, the whole of the Earth’s land surface was completely barren. Even after life had richly populated the oceans, there is no clear evidence for any life on land. While herds of trilobites wallowed on the ocean floor preyed upon by […] a segmented marine insect the size of a Labrador retriever—there was nothing on land. Sponges, mollusks, snails, corals, and exotic crinoids maneuvered through nearshore and deep-water environments” (177). “The first jawed and jawless fishes appeared and radiated into the bony forms we know today. // Sixty million more years passed before there was life on land that constituted, and more than a few single cells stuck together within the cracks of a rock. […] Once the first plant did somehow make its way onto land, however, it took only a few million years for all of the continents to turn green, first with wetlands and then with forests” (177). Crinoids are primitive creatures that live in shallow waters to as far as 9,000 meters below the surface.Hope’s constant search for more interesting examples of soil took her to many remote places. She writes, “The place where we work in the Artic is more than 1,000 miles away from the nearest tree, but it wasn’t always like that. Canada and Siberia are loaded with the remains of what were lush deciduous conifer forests that sprawled north of the Arctic Circle for tens of millions of years, starting about 50 million years ago. Tree-dwelling rodents climbed the branches of these forests and looked down upon huge tortoises and alligator-like reptiles. All these animals are now extinct, but together they formed an ecosystem more reminiscent of Alice’s Wonderland than of anything that can be found today” (195).As a dedicated and curious scientist, Hope naturally becomes aware of all the creatures around her. She writes, “There is a wasp that cannot reproduce outside the flower of a fig; this same fig flower cannot be fertilized without the help of a wasp. When the female wasp lays her eggs inside the fig flower, she also deposits the pollen that coated her when she hatched within a different fig flower. These two organisms—the wasp and the fig—have enjoyed this arrangement for almost 90 million years, evolving together through the extinction of the dinosaurs and across multiple ice ages” (203). The author has an interesting epigram from Helen Keller: “The more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confident grew my sense of kinship with the rest of the world.” Hope Jahren’s Lab Girl is an interesting excursion into an area of science I know little about. Her story of soil all around us, will make an interesting companion to The Wild Trees.--Jim
    • 4/5
      Jahren tells her life story growing up as a scientist with her partner, Bill. Interesting sub-stories with facts about trees and and plants woven together with her human interactions.
    • 4/5
      Ms. Jahren intertwines her life as an unconventional character in the world of scientific research with snippets of the interesting things she has learned about plant growth. Less science and more exploration of who the author is and how her work reflects her unique life experience, this memoir captures the drive to wonder and to discover