Dying on the Vine chronicles 150 years of scientific warfare against the grapevine’s worst enemy: phylloxera. In a book that is highly relevant for the wine industry today, George Gale describes the biological and economic disaster that unfolded when a tiny, root-sucking insect invaded the south of France in the 1860s, spread throughout Europe, and journeyed across oceans to Africa, South America, Australia, and California—laying waste to vineyards wherever it landed. He tells how scientists, viticulturalists, researchers, and others came together to save the world’s vineyards and, with years of observation and research, developed a strategy of resistance. Among other topics, the book discusses phylloxera as an important case study of how one invasive species can colonize new habitats and examines California’s past and present problems with it.
George Gale is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the author of Theory of Science. He has written about phylloxera for The World of Fine Wine magazine and other publications.
“George Gale’s book, a scientific whodunit, will certainly become the standard work on the little yellow bug that caused such devastation for winemakers from 1867 to recent times. It’s a tale well told about a small group of scientists who fought a lonely battle against both the devastator and an arrogant academic establishment.”-George M. Taber, author of Judgment of Paris--California vs France and the 1976 Wine Tasting That Revolutionized Wine
336 pp.6 x 9Illus: 21 b/w photographs, 2 line illustrations, 5 maps, 3 tables
9780520265486$85.00|£71.00Hardcover
Jul 2011