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Botany: A Blooming History

Botany: A Blooming History is a three-part BBC documentary series hosted by Timothy Walker, which tells the story of how people came to understand the natural order of the plant world, and how the quest to discover how plants grow uncovered the secret to life on the planet. What makes plants grow is a simple enough question. The answer turns out to be one of the most complicated and fascinating stories in science and took over 300 years to unravel. Through the series, Timothy Walker, director of Oxford University Botanic Garden, tells us interesting stories about how the work of Carl Linnaeus, Phillip Miller and John Ray created the science of botany; how botanists made the connection between a plant's growth and the energy from the Sun; and how pioneer botanists opened the door to a new branch of science - plant genetics.

Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3

Episode 1 - A Confusion of Names
Timothy Walker, director of Oxford University Botanic Garden, reveals how the breakthroughs of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Chelsea gardener Phillip Miller and English naturalist John Ray created the science of botany.

Episode 2 - Photosynthesis
The air we breathe, and all the food we eat, is created from water, sunlight, carbon dioxide and a few minerals. That's it, nothing else. It sounds simple, but this process is one of the most fascinating and complicated in all of science. Without it there could be no life on earth.

Episode 3 - Hidden World
For 10,000 years or more, humans created new plant varieties for food by trial and error and a touch of serendipity. Then 150 years ago, a new era began. Pioneer botanists unlocked the patterns found in different types of plants and opened the door to a new branch of science - plant genetics.