Jared Diamond's central thesis in his bestselling book, Guns, Germs and Steel, is that the fate of human societies has always depended upon their skills as farmers ... This is what the plant sciences have always been about.

Plant sciences or botany! No biological science has transformed society more than the successive waves of agricultural revolutions - new ways of growing more food. It started with the domestication of cereal crops - wheat, rice and corn. And in the 20th century, the green revolution has allowed nearly 7 billion people to live on the planet. The story of botany leads from the founding of agriculture and medicinal plants to understanding plant physiology and reproduction to the founding of genetics to finally understanding the miracle of photosynthesis Plant sciences or botany! No biological science has transformed society more than the successive waves of agricultural revolutions - new ways of growing more food. It started with the domestication of cereal crops - wheat, rice and corn. And in the 20th century, the green revolution has allowed nearly 7 billion people to live on the planet. The story of botany leads from the founding of agriculture and medicinal plants to understanding plant physiology and reproduction to the founding of genetics to finally understanding the miracle of photosynthesis

Segments in this program are:

323 b.c. - Theophratus Founds Botany
1682 - Plant Physiology
1694 - How Plants Reproduce
1838 - The Cellular Basis of Plant Life
1866 - Mendel's Laws of Inheritance
1886 - Nitrogen-Fixing of the Pea Family Is Explained
1946 - Photosynthesis
1969 - The Five Kingdoms of Life

Educational Science DVD Extras: Instructor Guide, Blackline Master Quiz, Timeline & Photographs