Driven by Nature

Peter H. Raven has spent his life immersed in the study of plants. He directed the Missouri Botanical Garden for many years and now serves as its president emeritus. Alongside that work he has written leading textbooks and several hundred scholarly articles, and he has long pressed for sustainability and the protection of biological diversity.

This autobiography is the first full account of his life. It begins with his childhood in San Francisco in the 1940s and follows him across several continents and many decades, from China to the American Midwest. Over four decades at the Garden, he worked to raise awareness of a changing planet, advance biological education, and shape the institution into the internationally recognized plant sanctuary it is today.

A closing epilogue brings the story into the present and argues for scientific learning, hands-on conservation, and activism in response to a rapidly changing natural world. The book includes an introduction by E. O. Wilson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning naturalist, and is illustrated throughout.

It will appeal most to nature lovers, plant enthusiasts, and environmentally minded readers who want to take part in protecting the planet's biodiversity.