Book description
FONT>I> is a dazzling evocation of the beauty of the natural
world and an exhilarating explanation of the secret workings of plants. <
Nicholas 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<
'Natural History in its purest form. A botanical
masterpiece in miniature' David Bellamy 'A bravura performance ...
It is a privilege to watch a subtle and daring mind at work ...
and to glimpse, from so many angles, a scientist at work in the
world' Jenny Uglow, Sunday Times 'Tracing the lifespan of a weed,
both in the wild and in a laboratory, makes enthralling reading.
Harberd, intensely aware of nature's changing seasonal patterns,
blends day-by-day observance with scientific exactness to sharpen
our awareness of nature's purposes and beauty. Brilliantly
written' Penelope Hobhouse 'It's another world. Another language.
But Harberd has the gift of connecting us with it ... What
Harberd's book gives us clueless amateurs is a huge sense of awe
at the extraordinary and brilliant machinery that regulates plant
growth' Anna Pavord, Independent
FONT>
I> is a dazzling evocation of the beauty of the natural world and an
exhilarating explanation of the secret workings of plants. <
Nicholas 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<
