A man whose tireless curiosity led him to search far and wide for useful and beautiful plants, David Fairchild was responsible for changing the eating habits of millions of Americans and for improving American agriculture. The famous botanist and plant explorer brought more than 200,000 species of plants into the United States and established what is now the vital New Crops Research Branch of the Department of Agriculture.

His introduction to natural history came at the age of six when he looked through a magnifying glass and viewed the fascinating activities of ants; at seventeen he knew he would devote a lifetime to exploring the infinite varieties of plant life. Barbour Lathrop, wealthy world-traveler, made it possible for Fairchild to visit foreign lands in search of rare plants.

Java was a world of wonder to the young scientist, and every day some new form of tropical life aroused his collecting instinct and his scientific curiosity. His work took him to remote corners of the world and into the homes of such men as Alexander Graham Bell whose pretty daughter Fairchild married. Fairchild convinced the chiefs of the Department of Agriculture that a program of foreign plant introduction should be supported by the government and from 1906 to 1928 he directed the Section of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. His wife encouraged him to write books, now famous, that told of their work, their journeys, the joy they found in tasting new foods and the frustrations of trying to share them with others.

Here is a vivid portrait of a warmly human and humble man who earned the respect of scientists the world over and who brought delight to plant lovers everywhere -- a man who was happiest with his feet on the bare earth and some living things under his hands. The Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Florida, containing the outstanding plants and trees of warm climates throughout the world, is a fitting memorial to David Fairchild, the plant explorer.

From the dust jacket