Meeting:

February 11, 2010

Guest Presenter:

Jane S. Smith

Program:

Science and Advertising in The Garden:  The Colorful Case of Luther Burbank

In the years when California was becoming a farm and flower cornucopia, the charismatic plant breeder Luther Burbank was an international celebrity. From cartoons to stained glass windows, his image and his reputation were familiar around the world. Inspired by Darwin, Burbank developed the Burbank potato (still the world’s most widely-grown variety), the Santa Rosa plum, the Shasta daisy, the Burbank rose, and hundreds of other new creations that helped define the horticultural and agricultural promise of the dawning 20th Century.

Jane S. Smith discusses her new book, The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants, Penguin Press: 2009.

Jane received her Ph.D. from Yale University and is currently a member of the History Department at Northwestern University. She writes frequently about the intersection of science, commerce, and popular taste.

For more information, please visit Jane’s website.