Das Wesen der Dinge und der Liebe

Is there an explanation for love? The moving and adventurous story of an extraordinary woman. "The Nature of Things and Love" tells the story of Alma Whittaker, a woman dedicated to plants, who explored the laws of nature and sought to understand the essence of love. Alma is born during America's transformative period, a time when the world is being explored and the old is being replaced by the new. Her enterprising father has become wealthy through the plant trade, and young Alma wants for nothing, including education. She grows up among the plants of the most magnificent greenhouses. Her entire passion is for nature, and throughout her studies, which accompany her for her entire life, she achieves revolutionary insights similar to those that Charles Darwin will later present to the world. Yet, in some ways, her discoveries seem insufficient. Is there a scientific explanation for why humans long for love? What is love, anyway? Why are we courageous, like her adoptive sister Prudence, who advocates for the abolition of slavery? A grand novel about an entire century, about reason and emotions – and everything in between.