Air & Space magazine editor Pappalardo forms a touching relationship with a preternatural plant. The author"s self-confessed obsession with sunflowers, coupled with an inquisitive mind, combine in a book about the plant"s history and cultural impact that"s full of interesting asides and little-known facts. Pappalardo gives credit to some of the lesser-known names who have championed the colorful flower"s many and varied uses. He charts the sunflower"s discovery and gradual integration into various industries, outlining some historical instances in which these flowers have reared their pretty heads. One indelible image, from the German invasion of Russia in 1941, shows opposing tanks cutting down great swathes of sunflowers as they lumber into battle in the fields of Kursk. Pappalardo even makes a connection between sunflowers and the activities of Osama bin Laden, who owned a company in the Sudan that controlled most of the country"s exports of sunflower-related...