Joshua Lambert
One River details the life of Richard Evans Schultes, widely regarded a seminal figure in the field of ethnobotany. The book was as exciting as a action-adventure feature film. The main character was a highly intelligent, tenacious, well-respected scientist, but also had such non-conformist tendancies as allowing undergraduate students to write term papers on their experiences with a variety of culturally-important psychoactive plants. The book cemented my interest in being a research scientist and in studying the biological effects of plants. It brought to life the fact that as a biological scientist, I have an intellectual connection to the Victorian and early 20th century naturalists, and that even in the confines of my lab, there is still profound adventure in making discoveries.