The Emerald Planet

The Emerald Planet (2007) looks at the central role plants have played in shaping the planet and its environment. New research makes use of plants, both fossilized and living, to explain how the planet got where it is, and where it might go in the future. The Emerald Planet inspired a three-part BBC series called How to Grow a Planet.

David Beerling is the Sorby Professor of Natural Sciences and Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation at the University of Sheffield, where he researches plant biology and global change. He’s also Editor in Chief of the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. Beerling has written two monographs and many scientific papers; his second book, Making Eden: How Plants Transformed a Barren Planet, was published in 2019.