This is a course in two halves. For he first three weeks we explore the extraordinary 450 million-year evolution of plants and the inventive ways they solved the many problems arising from the move on to dry land – gravity, nutrition, desiccation and the particularly intractable and surprising issue of reproduction.

After half term the focus shifts to how humans have adapted this bountiful heritage. We discover why, where and how agriculture was invented, and why this step has been described as “the worst mistake in history “. We continue with an overview of the key discoveries and different approaches to food growing in places as diverse as China, the Americas, the Islamic World and Britain. We culminate with the revolutionary changes of the Twentieth Century and the challenges and possibilities of the future.

Furthr details: https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/Online/2019/CourseInfo.aspx?r=C3530646