Additional information
by Herman B. Scholthof (Author)
Back Jacket
Amid the swirl of misinformation and fear surrounding science these days, this book offers a refreshing and essential message: science is good. Bridging the gap between dense academic textbooks and oversimplified - and sometimes erroneous - media reports, the book brings readers an accessible and fascinating look at a topic few realize even exists: viruses that infect plants.
The book illustrates that far from the villains viruses are often made out to be, the green representatives have played a vital role in shaping our understanding of life itself. This is the first book of its kind to spotlight the surprising and even beneficial side of viruses by showing how research in plant virology has driven major breakthroughs across the biological sciences.
The contents aim to reach curious readers and young aspiring scientists alike, revealing how the study of plant viruses opens doors to truly interdisciplinary exploration, from molecular biology to ecology and even human medicine. It reminds us that in the grand story of science, there is as much wonder as there is wisdom.
Author Biography
Herman B. Scholthof is Professor Emeritus who specialized in Molecular Plant Virology. For thirty years he trained students, postdoctoral associates, and other professionals in plant virus research, and has taught plant molecular biology and virology. He is a native from Gorssel in The Netherlands, co-incidentally the same town where Martinus Beijerink lived upon retirement. Scholthof attended agricultural colleges in Deventer and Leeuwarden (B.S.), and then Wageningen University (M.S.). He subsequently performed research and/or lectured in the USA at the University of Kentucky (Ph.D.), University of California-Berkeley (postdoctoral fellow), Texas A&M University (tenured Professor); and as visiting professor at Harvard Medical School, Cornell University, and Colorado State University. He now lives and writes in Colorado, at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
