Seed to Seed

The first book to combine poetic description of the natural world in the style of Gilbert White or Dorothy Wordsworth with the scientist's mission to reveal the secret life of plants Set in East Anglia in the area around Wheatfen, near Surlingham in Norfolk. Beautifully illustrated with 12 chapter openers and more than 40 sketches and diagrams

A brilliant evocation of the beauty of the natural world and an exhilarating explanation of its secret genetic workingsNicholas Harberd's narrative of the changing seasons has as its focus one tiny thale-cress plant in an East Anglian churchyard. He describes both what can be seen with the naked eye and the hidden molecular mechanisms that underlie it. He also tells the story of the last ten years of discovery in his own laboratory, as the team works to understand the genetic control of the growth of thale-cress. Part field notebook, part sketchbook, part diary, "Seed to Seed" is a dazzling evocation of the beauty of the natural world and an exhilarating explanation of the secret workings of plants.