Is Lab Girl Worth Reading?
by Hope Jahren
Ada’s Score
Jahren opens Lab Girl with soil — the smell of it, the language of it, the way a scientist learns to read the earth before she learns to read people. This memoir braids two narratives: the growth of a woman finding her footing in a hostile academic world, and the biology of plants rendered with genuine wonder. The science isn't decoration; it earns its place. Jahren writes about roots and seeds with the same urgency she brings to her own survival. The friendship with Bill Hagopian anchors the human story with warmth and dark comedy. Where the book occasionally loses momentum, it regains it through sheer precision of feeling. Best suited to anyone who finds meaning at the intersection of intellect and perseverance.
Spotlight“Jahren sneaks up on you. You think you're reading about plants, and then you realize you're reading about how to survive being yourself. Extraordinary.”
What a Scientist Taught Us to See
Hope Jahren is a geobiologist, and Lab Girl is technically a memoir about her career in science — but what it really is, is a love letter to the patience of trees and the strange, consuming devotion of a true friendship. Her prose moves between the cellular and the cosmic with a ease that makes you realize great science writing and great literary writing were always the same thing. After this book, you will never walk past a tree without feeling, just slightly, that you owe it something.
Ada Brief
AI reading intelligence“Jahren sneaks up on you. You think you're reading about plants, and then you realize you're reading about how to survive being yourself. Extraordinary.”
What a Scientist Taught Us to See
Hope Jahren is a geobiologist, and Lab Girl is technically a memoir about her career in science — but what it really is, is a love letter to the patience of trees and the strange, consuming devotion of a true friendship. Her prose moves between the cellular and the cosmic with a ease that makes you realize great science writing and great literary writing were always the same thing. After this book, you will never walk past a tree without feeling, just slightly, that you owe it something.
Book Details
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Published
- January 1, 2017
- Pages
- 304
- Language
- ENG
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Ada’s Score
4.2
Ada’s editorial score — not an aggregate of reader reviews.
Common Questions About Lab Girl
- Is Lab Girl worth reading?
- Jahren sneaks up on you. You think you're reading about plants, and then you realize you're reading about how to survive being yourself. Extraordinary. Ada rates it 4.2 out of 5.
- How many pages is Lab Girl?
- Lab Girl is 304 pages long — around 6–7 hours at an average reading pace.
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