Geochemist Hope Jahren writes with such flair that a reviewer is tempted to just move out of the way and quote her. Consider the top of page 64 in her new book, “Lab Girl” (Knopf, 290 pp., $26.95): ...

Leaves, soil and seeds. Not normally words that make your pulse race. But they do light a fire in the mind and heart of Hope Jahren. In her hands, you will never feel the same way about these words ...

Renee Montagne talks with geobiologist Hope Jahren about her book Lab Girl. Jahren studies plants, seeds and soil. Her passion for science started as a little girl spending hours in her father's lab.

Botanist Hope Jahren’s new memoir tells how a lifelong passion for science sustained her in the male-dominated world of the research laboratory Hope Jahren’s memoir of her life in science, Lab Girl, ...