If you like studying and learning about fungi, you are probably up for a good topical read once in awhile. We're not talking about the raft of mushroom cookbooks or mushroom field guides that probably already line your shelves.
Perhaps the latest monograph on protein-protein interactions in the genus Schizophyllum is not high on your reading list. Not only that, but if someone gives you one more “giant color treasury of mushooms” you are going to throw away your coffee table! There are some readable, informative, and yes -- even entertaining -- books from the world of mycology that might be just what you need. Here are three that any fan of the fungi will appreciate.
The Fungus Fighters
The Fungus Fighters, by Richard S. Baldwin, chronicles the work of Elizabeth Hazen and Rachel Brown, who together are credited with the discovery of the first safe and effective antifungal drug -- nystatin. Fungal infections are relatively rare and you may not give them much thought (after all, athlete's foot is not the most serious of afflictions).
However, when a serious deep fungal infection strikes, it can be lethal. Fungi are eukaryotic, as are humans, so it is difficult to find drugs to attack them that won't also attack the patient's cells at the same time. If you like science and a bit of a mystery, you'll enjoy reading about the dedication and hard work of these two researchers, who made an important contribution during a time when women were still rarely found in the laboratory.
Mushrooms, Molds, and Miracles
Dubbed "A fascinating journey into the strange realm of the fungi -- man's greatest friends and deadliest foes," Mushrooms, Molds, and Miracles, by Lucy Kavaler, takes the reader on a wide-ranging journey through mycological history. Well researched, and with a little something about everything fungal, Kavaler touches on brewing and bread making, toxic and edible mushrooms, the discovery of penicillin, the great potato famine, fungal biotechnology, and even extraterrestrial life. It's a bit dated (1965), but outside of the biotechnology parts, it does an excellent job of describing the great help, as well as the great destruction, rendered by the fungal kingdom.
Trees and Toadstools
Rodale Press published a wonderful book in 1947 called Trees and Toadstools, by M. C. Rayner. It doesn't seem like something Rodale would touch these days, but we can be glad they did back then. The original edition was published in England in 1945. In a concise and highly readable 85 pages, Dr. Rayner introduces the world of woodland fungi and more specifically the fungi that inhabit the roots of nearly every tree you see. Without these "fungus roots" (mycorrhizae) most trees would be in a bad way. It is long out of print, but this gem can occasionally be found in used bookstores.
References
Mushrooms, Molds, and Miracles, Lucy Kavaler, John Day Company, NY, 1965
The Fungus Fighters, Richard S. Baldwin, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1981
Trees and Toadstools, M. C. Raynor, Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA, 1947
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