Book Review 31

Review

Title: The Viking in the Wheat Field

ISBN 10: 0802717403

ISBN 13: 9780802717405

Published: 2009

Pages: 256

Cost: $26

Rating (1-5): 4

Submitted By: Dick, Warren A.

Date posted: May 28, 2010

A Scientist's Struggle to Preserve the World's Harvest

We seldom tell the stories of people who conduct our agronomic science and make important contributions to our world’s food security. This book is a delightful interweaving of the events that help secure our major food crops, primarily wheat, with the personal events of Bent Skovmand. Bent Skovmand was born in Denmark into the home of a pastor. A spirit of independence led young Bent to North American and the University of Minnesota. He received his PhD in plant pathology in 1976, but just as important were the contacts he made with people such as his advisor Roy Wilcoxson, as well as Norman Borlaug, E.C. Stakman, and others.

A brief account of a new race of wheat rust both begins and ends the book. The Introduction begins in Uganda when a scientist noticed poxlike lesions erupting on wheat stems, which were soon identified as being caused by a new race of rust. This disease was named in 1999 as Ug99 after the country in which it was first seen. The rust was quickly found able to overcome most of the established defense genes in wheat, causing concern that, if spread around the world, would greatly reduce wheat yields. The Epilogue concludes with a review of progress made between 1998 and 2009 in defeating Ug99.

The remainder of the book is a story of how agricultural scientists work together to protect the health and diversity of our food crops. The Viking in the Wheat Field is a story of Bent Skovmand’s career, but also includes stories of contributions of other important scientists. Susan Dworkin writes in a way that brings a human face to science and at a level that most readers will understand and appreciate. For me, it was a fascinating introduction to the collecting and securing of thousands of wheat cultivars from Mexico to Turkey to Tibet.

The book is organized into 11 chapters. Although there is a common theme of food security as represented by the need to preserve crop diversity and the breeding of new crop cultivars, each chapter can really be read as independent stories. For example, the development of triticale is described in a chapter titled “The Marriage of Wheat and Rye.” The title of another chapter is “Where the Wheat Begins” and this chapter describes Bent Skovmand’s work in Turkey, a country described as the “northern reach of wheat’s center or origin.”

Much of the book describes efforts related to the collection and preservation of germplasm. Stories about trips into remote regions of the world, where danger often lurked, adds excitement. It is fitting that the last chapter of the book briefly tells about the establishment of the Svalbard vault, sometimes called the Doomsday vault, located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. The vault now stores one-third of the world’s most important food varieties. The Appendices also contained interesting information about important worldwide collections of wheat, rye, triticale, and related species. The final is a world map showing the centers of origin of selected crops.

The book would make a great gift for young people interested in science. It would also be of interest to anyone wanting to know more about the history of some of the prominent scientists, especially those within the Crop Science of America, involved in wheat breeding and development around the world. The price is certainly reasonable and the author captures the drama, excitement, passion, hard work and reward for those who undertake scientific discovery. I found the book an excellent source of evening reading.