Lab Girl: A Memoir

Written by Hope Jahren

Narrated by Hope Jahren

An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime friendship; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world
 
Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she’s studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book is a revelatory treatise on plant life—but it is also so much more.

Lab Girl is a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren’s remarkable stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom’s labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done “with both the heart and the hands”; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work.

Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with a brilliant, wounded man named Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them from the Midwest across the United States and back again, over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.

Jahren’s probing look at plants, her astonishing tenacity of spirit, and her acute insights on nature enliven every page of this extraordinary book. Lab Girl opens your eyes to the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass, and flower petal. Here is an eloquent demonstration of what can happen when you find the stamina, passion, and sense of sacrifice needed to make a life out of what you truly love, as you discover along the way the person you were meant to be.


Music for the Audio Edition:
Composed by Katelyn Sweeney Ching
Margaret Kocher, Cellist
Katelyn Sweeney Ching, Pianist 
Mark Robinson, Audio Engineer
Copyright 2016

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781101890202

Reviews for Lab Girl

[smashbasile · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the beginning and end of this book, but I struggled a bit through the middle. I was more interested in her discoveries and work, and there just wasn't enough of that in this book for me.

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you had told me I would enjoy a book about geobiology, I would have had serious doubts, but I found this book both entertaining and educational. Jahren’s narrative includes a vast array of topics, highlighting her love for science, an amazing friendship with her lab partner (Bill), what it’s like to experience bipolar episodes, the impact of motherhood, the importance of conservation, and insightful information on botany. She alternates chapters about plants with the stories from her life, comparing and contrasting plants with people.

This book provides a behind-the-scenes look at what life is like as a research scientist, and the obstacles faced by a woman in a field dominated by men. Having been there, done that, myself, I could relate to her struggles. Jahren is a skilled author, and relates the scientific material in a straightforward manner which is easily understood. She includes a good amount of humor in addition to the serious business of finding her way in the world. She and Bill have traveled to many places for their research, and I enjoyed reading about their adventures. I would have liked to have heard more about the results of her research, as she focuses mostly on what was done, and less on the outcomes. There was also a bit of anthropomorphizing of plant life. Recommended to those interested in science, memoirs, and ecology, and especially to young women considering a career in the scientific disciplines. Contains profanity and a graphic description of childbirth.

[daplz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this as an audiobook from my library. I really like that It’s read by the author herself. This book is both a very personal story of Jahren’s life as a research scientist and a compilation of cool stories and facts about plants drawn from her many years of studying and teaching science.

I don’t usually use audiobooks, but I recently started knitting and found it’s a lot of fun to craft and listen at the same time. When I’m lucky my cat snuggles up to me as well. ☺️

[caedocyon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5/5 perhaps. The last third pulled it together for me somehow. Maybe the Ireland story, and/or appreciation of how well the structure of the book works.

[treebeard_404 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am tempted to disregard my self-imposed rule and give this 5 stars without a second reading. Jahren's memoire is scientifically interesting, emotionally poignant, and surprisingly funny. And I mean really funny. The dialog between Hope and her best friend and long-time co-worker, Bill, is astoundingly witty.
The audiobook is narrated by Jahren, herself. This is a plus. When she is relating some of the more emotionally powerful events, you can hear the ever-so-slight hitch in her voice. And it guarantees that the humor is related authentically.
Lastly, the botany sections are awesome.

[fmclellan-29530 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow. What a book. A brilliant melange of botany, science, autobiography, and memoir. A personal story and a universal one at the same time. Difficult to describe and perhaps singular. But highly recommended. Just plunge in.

[secondhandrose_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a fantastic book. The author makes her field in scientific research accessible while sharing something of her personal life and growth. Highly recommended.

[jwhenderson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Are people like plants? Can you hear plants grow? These and other questions are raised and answered or at least discussed in this fascinating book by geobiologist Hope Jahren. I have enjoyed reading about science throughout my life, from biographies of Michael Faraday and George Washington Carver in my youth to works by scientists and histories of science in my adult life.

Lab Girl changed the way I perceived trees. It forced me to consider the incredible grace and tenacity of a seed. Most notably, it introduced me to a very fascinating woman, a scientist who was so enthralled with her work that I could practically feel it in every page. This is a clever, captivating, and successful debut. With her passion for science, Hope Jahren's Lab Girl teaches us in the best way possible. Its profundity made it a book that is powerful and unique. The result was as interesting a read as any I have had in quite a while.

[japaul22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lab Girl was a mixed bag for me. It's a memoir of a scientist who studies paleobotany. The science info about trees and plants and the trials and tribulations of being a scientist were fascinating - 5 star writing.

On the other hand, the details of her personal life and the general vibe of her personality were really annoying. The first half of the book I just kept thinking "why in the world is she living like this?" Crazy all-nighters working, eating awful food, not showering, weird relationship with a coworker, etc. Then she reveals that she's bipolar and finally gets on medication, so some of that evens out. But still, I think I would not like her personality in person. She has a strange sense of humor. Normally I'm careful to not judge a female writer in this way, because I think women are usually held to a higher standard of what is acceptable in their personality than men are. In this instance, though, Jahren makes her personality such a big part of the book that it was impossible for me not to comment on.

I also was really thrown by the title of this book. With "girl" in the title, I was expecting a memoir by someone young and new to the career. Maybe some humor and levity. But Hope Jahren is anything but a "girl". She's an adult woman with lots of awards and recognition in her field. I think using the word "girl" detracts from her accomplishments and sets the reader up for a different book than they are going to get. Maybe that's just me since using the world girl to describe grown women is a real pet peeve of mine.

As I said, a mixed bag for me. I think enough of it was fascinating that I would still recommend it. I just am afraid that I will remember the annoying parts most.

[lauralkeet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hope Jahren earned a PhD in soil science and has spent her career studying trees, fossil forests, and other natural phenomena. This memoir combines nature writing and personal narrative, with emphasis on her experience as a female scientist as well as relevant aspects of her personal life. Jahren tells a good story, occasionally foreshadowing things to come in a way that kept me turning the pages. Some of the more painful events in her personal history are only alluded to and not fully explained. While I was curious about these references, I respect her decision not to delve into them. This also kept her book focused on the topics of greatest interest to her, rather than becoming overly focused on personal adversity. And yet, Jahren has faced plenty of adversity, specifically related to mental health, which she freely shares with the reader. I can’t begin to understand the technical aspects of her career, but I appreciate the perseverance and commitment required to succeed as she has done.

[bangerlm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I listened to the audio version of this book, with the author as narrator, and loved it. At first I was a little put off on how emotional she became while reading, but as the story progressed I appreciated the vulnerability. I love how she entertwined information on plants with the story of her friendship with her lab partner Bill. This is a well written, beautiful story of friendship, love, acceptance, perseverance and ambition.

[steve02476 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked a lot of this book, but it seemed a little uneven. Lots of interesting stuff about plants and about being a scientist. Also lots about her personal life, but that wasn't all so interesting. (Some was.)

[ladyofthelodge · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

My book group loved this book, but I could not get into it. While Hope seems like an interesting and committed person, I got bogged down by the details.

[nanettels · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I listened to the audiobook read by the author. Lab Girl is an incredibly moving work by a female scientist who details the struggles she went through to persevere in her field. It has a perfect mix of scientific detail, humor, poignancy, and love. I truly didn't want the book to end. There were parts I laughed out loud at and parts I cried. Highly recommended.

[librarycin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.25 stars

Hope is a research scientist and professor. She studies trees. This is a memoir primarily focusing on her life starting as a student (though there is a little bit when she is younger). She and fellow scientist and best friend, Bill, set up a lab at a different university three times. Eventually, amidst their long working hours, Hope gets married and has a son, while dealing with bi-polar disorder.

I know most people loved this. I’m waffling between good and ok. I liked the biography/memoir parts of the book. I found some (but not all) of the science interesting (my favourite science chapter was the one on desert plants.) Where I definitely lost interest was in the philosophical parts. She did tend to mix her science with philosophy. Too much philosophy my liking, anyway.

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hope Jahren, author of Lab Girl, is a geobiologist, whose life long passion is the study of plants. Working with her eccentric lab partner, Bill Hagopian, she is able to make a dent in a male-dominated field, overcoming her bipolar diagnosis, discrimination, and an ever diminishing amount of financial resources available for research scientists to work with.

Mostly I read this as a story of friendship - of how she found support from an unsuspecting source (Bill, who definitely does things his own way) which turned into a lifelong friendship and pseudo family and how she found love with a fellow professor (Clint) and with her son.

Written in beautiful prose, Hope inspires hope for the future, tasking each one of us to plant trees, and help the earth.

[sallyelizabethmurphy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book should be required reading for anyone aspiring to become a scientist.

[mykl8s · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Funny, sad, deep, outrageous, quirky, Hope Jahren gives us quite a book. The prolog made me want to read more, chapter one had me from the start, and the stories and the science got better from there.
Every other chapter is about plants. They are usually the shorter chapters, but most are rhapsodic. The other chapters tell Jahren's story, from growing up in her father's community college laboratory and helping her mother in their Minnesota garden, through college, jobs, becoming a research geobiologist, a mother, and here, an author.
She writes humorously, even when discussing sexism, mental disturbances, car wrecks or failed experiments.
This is a book about doing science, and tells what scientists do better than most anything else I've seen.
Her second book, The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here, is a good read for both climate change deniers and climate alarmists.

[ladyars · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So rare to find someone who can both talk and do science as Jahren does.

[ar_bookbird · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely adore this book!!! It is a must read and a must listen on audio!

[coffeefairy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I couldn’t love this book more! It’s not a quick read per se, but it could be, because concepts I’m not super familiar with are explained beautifully, in a way that lay-folk can understand.

What I love: I’m a sucker for books that are about the interconnectedness of people and nature, that take a phenomenon in nature and overlay it to personal stories and situations. It’s why I love “Prodigal Summer” by Barbara Kingsolver, and “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating,” by Elisabeth Tova Bailey.

“Lab Girl” weaved plant science with personal stories, so that we could see how a plant behaves and responds and see how people do too. Fascinating.

I appreciate the call-to-action, to plant trees, and the advice Jahren gives on how to choose a tree for longevity vs. love or lust.

I love hearing that perhaps plants aren’t as passive as people thought, that maybe they work to create an environment that is more ideal for them, demanding and receiving the things they need to thrive. They’ve got self-worth, baby! :) We can take a page from that book, am I right? Leaf from that plant? Well, we can’t all come up with clever analogies! ;)

[kohrmanmj · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I struggled for a long while to process and understand my feelings about this book. On one hand, it was beautifully written, compelling, and self-aware. Hope Jahren takes all of the ugliness of the academic process and puts it on full display. The reason that I couldn't give 4 or even 5 stars is innately tied to her full awareness of the abusive systems that mistreat scientists. She recognizes it, lays it bare, candidly discusses the negative impacts of the process on both her and Bill's lives. And then she does some hand-waving and says it was all okay, because "science" makes it worth it. I argue that we should challenge these issues and instead argue for and foster a system that doesn't burn out its talent, a system that pays its skilled technical staff enough that they aren't homeless. I guess I'm just a radical...

[billsearth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a greatmemoir of life as a woman in science research, specifically tree ecology and dealing with all-men professionals.
There are some quotable sentances here and there about character and workethics.
There are two men in this woman's life. One is a long-term trusted friend, the other is her husband who shares most of her beliefs but not her character style.

The book is both upbeat and realistic in its treatment of its two themes, science and human relationships.
Thee is also humor fairly often and that too goes welwith the people she works with.

[bookbrig-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked the sciencey bits and the memoir bits equally, and it definitely left me wanting to plant a tree.

[dmturner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Everybody should read this book. It has everything a book needs: Information about trees, how to be a friend, what it is like to be a scientist, and what love is. It is also written exceedingly well.

[forsanolim · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hope Jahren is a professor and plant biologist; she researches how and why plants have been so successful over such long periods of time. This book is her memoir, told very non-chronologically and interspersing "memoir" pieces with expositions on various aspects of tree and plant biology. It is also, in many ways, the story of her long relationship with her friend/virtual brother/co-scientist Bill and how the two of them have worked together throughout their careers. I listened to this book on audiobook, a lot of the time while outside in nature, and I do think that it added to the ambiance in some ways when she described and became excited about trees and the natural world. However, I will note that the audiobook (which Jahren read herself) was quite slow (or, I suppose, soothing, depending on your point of view).

I'd been planning to read this book for quite a long time, and I first picked it up probably a couple years ago but didn't have time to get very far into it at all that time. I think that, in many ways, this was a really good book for me, as I generally really like the outdoors, and I'm planning to enter grad school (though not in anything remotely similar to plant biology) this coming fall; so I'm not surprised that I enjoyed it.

[grace.van.moer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable read chronicling the struggles female scientists endure. Fascinating personal journey interspersed with scientific knowledge and info.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hope Jahren was always most comfortable in a lab; as a child she played in her father’s lab. She chose to research botany, and this is her memoir.

Jahren structures the book with alternating chapters; in one she will give a botany lesson, detailing, for example, the functioning of a leaf; in the next chapter she’ll relate a personal story of her journey from childhood to her position as a research scientist. And I was frequently able to draw a comparison between the science and the memory. I was fascinated by the science lessons but was completely taken in by her personal story.

Jahren writes with humor and strength as she reveals her personal struggles with bi-polar disorder, with learning to show love having grown up in a reserved Scandinavian culture, and with being a woman in a decidedly male-dominated field. I particularly loved the stories she told of her adventures with her student and eventual lab partner, Bill. This is the kind of guy who will drive you crazy (pun intended), but whom you want along on a deserted island. Resourceful is his middle name!

I highly recommend this to all readers – male or female, science geek or amateur gardener. I think just about everyone will find something delightful and relatable in this memoir.

[bereanna · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Worthwhile. Memoir and science of trees in alternating chapters. Makes the reader appreciate trees.

[detailmuse · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

{T}he best way to give something a home is to make it part of a tree.

Jahren is talking about live trees above, but I love to imagine that she includes books as trees, since the best home for so many things is in the pages of a book.

Jahren’s memoir recounts her life from isolated child in a Norwegian household in Minnesota, to isolated research scientist primarily in Georgia, Maryland and Hawaii -- and she alternates chapters of her life with chapters of the life cycle of plants, primarily trees. The botany is fascinating (it brought to mind [The Hidden Life of Trees]) and Jahren’s friend and colleague Bill is dryly hilarious. But Jahren remained a not-very-sympathetic enigma until quite near the end of the book, which is frustrating in memoir.