Lab Girl

Jahren describes the South as “a plant’s idea of Eden” (95). The warm and humid climate fosters growth, and winters are mild. Trees shed their leaves in preparation for winter, and this process is “highly choreographed” (95)as all the leaves break off in the same place. She asks the reader: “Can you imagine throwing away all of your possessions once a year because you are secure in your expectation that youwill be able to replace them in a matter of weeks?” (96). Trees discard their leaves only to regenerate later.

In the 1990s, the amount of income tax collected in Georgia doubled, and a lot of this revenue was channeled into universities. At this time, “every kind of growth seemed possible” (96).

This chapter paints of picture of life in Jahren’s lab in its early years, as Bill and Jahren spend their time “designing and redesigning”(97)the lab. Both Bill and Jahren leave California with a good deal of debt, so they live their lives simply and frugally. They conduct “a long-term experiment designed to measure how little [they] could spend each week and still get by” (99). It’s common for them to eat fast food and frozen food. Jahren’s dog, Reba, is a common fixture of the lab.