Seed to Seed

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 is a dazzling evocation of the beauty of the natural world and an exhilarating explanation of the secret workings of plants.

Nicholas Harberd is one of the world's leading plant biologists. He currently directs a research team at the John Innes Centre in Norwich and is Honorary Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia. In 2008 he will become Sibthorpian Professor of Plant Sciences and Professorial Fellow at St John's College, University of Oxford. He is the author of numerous scientific papers, has published in the leading international scientific journals Nature and Science, and is the father of Alice and Jack.