Seed to Seed: The Secret Life of Plants

A brilliant evocation of the natural and genetic beauty of the plant world, in the form of a year-long journal from one of the world’s leading biologists.

Nicholas Harberd, a father, scientist, and nature lover, spends his days at the lab directing a team discovering the secrets of how plants grow, using a common weed as their example. Concerned that he’s losing sight of the weed’s ordinary days in the world, he sets out to find an example of the same plant in the wild. And so begins this unique and beautiful book―part field notebook, part sketchbook, and part journal. Building on a narrative of the passing seasons of 2004, Harberd relates that narrative to the life history of what becomes an iconic plant. As a biologist and close observer, he is able to describe both what is visible and the hidden molecular mechanisms that underlie the visible events in the plant’s life. In the process, he reveals what the daily life of a scientist truly is.

Beautifully produced, with dozens of diagrams and drawings, and written with thoughtfulness and passion, Seed to Seed is a testament to the wonder of the world around us.