Research Books
Over the course of the school year, we've read five books pertaining to our project. Details about what we've learned from each book are below.
A Poison Like No Other: Matt Simon
A Poison Like No Other by Matt Simon dives into how plastic is both suseful and wasteful. The book talks about why we're so hooked on plastic and how it's messing up our planet, from the Arctic to our clothes. It's made us think twice about using plastic all the time and informed us more about the plastic problem in our project.
Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms: Paul Stamets
Our project relies heavily on insights from this book, particularly regarding tray culture for substrate handling efficiency and the utilization of nonwood-based substrates like agricultural waste for sustainability. The book also emphasizes the importance of sterility in fungal cultivation, a factor crucial for scaling our solution effectively. This book provides valuable considerations for indoor versus outdoor cultivation and shows the significance of pasteurization in substrate preparation for removing harmful microbes, guiding our current and future experimentation.
Wasteland: Oliver
Franklin-Wallis
Wasteland talks about the journey of trash and recycling once it leaves we throw it out. It talks a lot about recycling and the inefficiencies of recycling plastic—specifically the way corporations encourage plastic use despite the fact it often can't be recycled.
Fungi: Nicholas P. Money
This book went into detail about fungal biology and how fungi work. We learned a lot about the phylogeny of the fungi we're researching, as well as the structure and function of fungal hyphae. This book gave us a practical understanding of the fungi we're working with.
Build: Tony Fadell
This book taught us about the design process, and what it looks like to turn an idea into a business. Our biggest takeaway from this book was that "failed" ideas or business ventures are not a bad thing, but an opportunity for growth and learning. Next time will be better for it.