Joe Lewis grew up poor on a Mississippi cotton farm without electricity or running water. And yet it was a rich life — one lived in close proximity to family and nature. Because of a childhood spent around mules, chickens and insects of every kind, Lewis developed a deep and abiding curiosity for the creatures of the natural world. That led him on a trajectory to become an award-winning entomologist with the USDA-ARS at the Tifton Campus, University of Georgia.

During his 40-year career, Lewis discovered how plants use "SOS" signals to recruit beneficial insects to their defense. In 2008, he was awarded the coveted Wolf Prize in Agriculture for this groundbreaking work. In his new book, Lewis looks back on his charmed childhood and distinguished scientific career while tracing our industrialized country's increasing alienation from nature.

Lewis believes we can reconnect with nature through learning to speak a new language of co-existence and cooperation — both in our agriculture and our everyday lives. This coming-of-age tale will inspire anyone interested in agriculture, talking plants and smart insects.

Includes a foreword by Mark Schatzker. Preface by John Ikerd.

"If I am saying nothing else here, I am saying that our disconnect from nature—her beauty, her power, her amazing ability to give— is, more than anything, the greatest threat to our survival." — W. Joe Lewis, author

"Joe Lewis' book is not an ordinary book about a scientific discovery; it is a unique and important book about nature and the nature of life." — John Ikerd, author of Sustainable Capitalism, A Return to Common Sense, and Small Farms are Real Farms.