Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape our Future by Merlin Sheldrake surprised me for how much I enjoyed its exploration of network theory in the world of fungi found in the soil beneath our feet. For instance, while traditional evolutionary theory holds that nature is recreated only by one species dominating another, fungi challenge this notion in a hidden-from-view world where new species are created through cooperation and symbiosis. This book was a delight for me for the way it made me think in new ways about creative processes and relationships in organic networks of people.

People in my circle know that I reference this book often.  And that has proven a bit of a mistake since I’m not sure the analogy to network theory is very clear when people pick up this book on their own.  It might be more accurate to say this book inspired my thinking in a circuitous way instead of making a clear connection.  

But if you like science books, you’ll probably find this one enjoyable.  And at the very least, like me, it might cause you to stop, ponder, and even take a photo on your phone the next time you come across fungi slowly chewing on a dead tree out in the woods.