The The Globalization of Wheat

The Globalization of Wheat is an important book that should indeed be read and discussed by the international-development community.

* British Journal for the History of Science *

Baranski, who trained in both crop science and the social sciences, offers a holistic critique, skillfully marshaling and integrating evidence from the biological and social realms to support her claims.

* Journal of Interdisciplinary History *

In this highly original work, Marci Baranski challenges a key claim of twentieth-century scientific ingenuity: wide adaptation. Wide adaptation was needed to make wheat a global crop and launch the Green Revolution of the 1960s. Yet, Baranski asks, what if the research was wrong? What if Norman Borlaug was wrong? Her book is a must-read for anyone interested in knowing how and why the science of the Green Revolution, flawed though it was, continues to garner attention and followers today.

-- Gabriela Soto Laveaga, Harvard University

The Globalization of Wheat offers a critical perspective on the history of technology in the Green Revolution and its implications for current and future agricultural development.

* Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology, and Society *

This well-researched, well-written, and important book establishes Marci Baranski as one of the best of the new generation of historians of science. The Globalization of Wheat not only peels back the layers of politics behind the Green Revolution’s ‘miracle seeds’ but shows how those events brought about a distorted notion of what we should value in seeds. This is a vital contribution to the ongoing rethinking of this famous episode in agricultural history.

-- Glenn Davis Stone, author of The Agricultural Dilemma: How Not to Feed the World

This book is a useful addition to the literature, partly because of its close analysis of a central assumption underlying The Green Revolution’s breeding strategy, but also because it illustrates how history can inform critique of current agricultural policy.

* Agricultural History *

Leveraging her expertise in biochemistry and her remarkable talent for unraveling complex narratives, Baranski offers much-needed interdisciplinary insight into the history of wide adaptation.

* Historia Agraria *

The Globalization of Wheat stands out as one of the most compelling contributions yet to [studies of The Green Revolution.]

-- Helen Anne Curry

Her book is a notable contribution to the critical histories of the Green Revolution, and she has opened up lesser-known vistas by keeping the scientific community at the heart of her historical analysis.

-- Madhumita Saha, Amity University in Uttar Pradesh, India

Baranski takes the reader on a tour de force through the intellectual and scientific origins of wide adaptation.

-- Michele Sollai, Science