BOOKS


Author Interview Merlin Sheldrake


In his first book, writer and biologist Merlin Sheldrake evokes the world of fungi in spellbinding detail


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he more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them.” So writes biologist Merlin Sheldrake in the prologue to his forthcoming book Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Future. And indeed since I read this astounding début, I can’t stop thinking about how preva- lent and vital fungi are in our lives—from the yeasts which gave rise to the loaf in the bread bin, and the glass of wine I gratefully pour at the end of the working day, to the lichen which encrusts my garden wall.


Caroline Sanderson @carosanderson 20 21st February 2020


These familiar fungi are the merest tip of the iceberg: the best estimate suggests that there are between 2.2 and 3.8 million species of fungi; that is, between six and 10 times the estimated number of plant species. And among many more mind-altering facts readers of Entangled Life will learn are these: fungi can solve problems without a brain; survive nuclear radiation, and exist without protec- tion in space; and manipulate animal behaviour in extraordinary, unsetling ways we struggle to explain. (Sheldrake gives an account of what fungi do to a certain species of ant which reads like the plot of a horror film). And then before it all gets too creepy, we’re reminded that fungi give us life-saving medicines; and that their abilit to digest plastic, explosives, pesticides, crude oil and other messes of human creation could make them vital


Photography: Hanna-Katrina Jedrosz


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