CSHL Press News

New book to benefit historians, horticulturalists, Long Island residents, and CSHL visitors

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (June 9, 2008) – For decades, the beautiful grounds of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), a world-renowned research institution located on the banks of Long Island Sound, have long impressed its many visitors. A new book, Grounds for Knowledge, is an attractive guide to CSHL’s mix of historic and modern buildings and the striking landscape that surrounds them. It was written by historic preservationist and tree enthusiast Elizabeth L. Watson, who, together with her husband James D. Watson and two children, has lived in various homes on the picturesque grounds of CSHL for almost four decades.

The first five chapters of Grounds for Knowledge cover the buildings and grounds of the main campus, which extends along the western shore of Cold Spring Harbor in the Incorporated Village of Laurel Hollow, New York. Three additional chapters cover the nearby Lab campuses in Woodbury, Lloyd Harbor, and Cold Spring Harbor village. The book includes a brief history of each building, the common and scientific names of woody trees and shrubs, and descriptions of sculptures, plantings, and water features, as well as detailed maps that invite exploration. The appendices contain building and bird checklists, a guide to the seasonal changes of the vegetation, and recommended strolls through CSHL.

As described in Grounds for Knowledge, the main campus of CSHL was recently established as the “Bungtown Botanical Garden” through the Public Gardens Association of America. As an arboretum, Bungtown Botanical Garden serves not only an aesthetic purpose, but an educational one. Signs identify more than 150 unique and interesting plants on the main campus, and the public is invited to sign up for guided walking tours of the grounds throughout the year.

Grounds for Knowledge can be usefully slipped into a shoulder bag or backpack before exploring the grounds. It will be of interest to historians, gardeners, and horticulturalists, as well as to Long Island residents and CSHL visitors.

About the book:
Grounds for Knowledge: A Guide to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Landscapes & Buildings (© 2008 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press) was written by Elizabeth L. Watson. It is available in hardcover (ISBN 978-087969799-0) and is 208 pp. in length (illus., maps, appendices, bibliography, index). For additional information, please see http://www.cshlpress.com/link/grounds.htm .

About the author:
Elizabeth Lewis Watson has earned two master’s degrees – one in Historic Preservation from the Columbia University School of Architecture and Planning (1983), and another in Library and Information Science from the Palmer School of Long Island University (1997). She also holds honorary doctorates from the College of Charleston and Illinois Wesleyan University, where she has lectured on the preservation of historic landscapes. In addition to Grounds for Knowledge and Houses for Science, she has authored A Limner’s View (a sailor’s view of world architecture, with “limner” Faith H. McCurdy, 1993) and contributed to The Mansions of Long Island, 1860-1940 (1997).

About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press is an internationally renowned publisher of books, journals, and electronic media, located on Long Island, New York. Since 1933, it has furthered the advance and spread of scientific knowledge in all areas of genetics and molecular biology, including cancer biology, plant science, bioinformatics, and neurobiology. It is a division of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, an innovator in life science research and the education of scientists, students, and the public. For more information, visit www.cshlpress.com .

Contact: Ingrid Benirschke, Book Marketing Manager benirsch@cshl.edu; 619-275-6021