The Botanists

Peter Curran visits members of the many and varied disciplines of science, from astronomy to zoology, to explore their habitat, customs, rituals and beliefs.

Peter meets the botanists who won the lottery. Seed conservation used to be rather marginal to the main scientific activity at The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. That is, until, the scientists who preserve seeds for future generations asked for and received 30 million pounds.

At the Millenium Seed Bank in Sussex, the gentle world of botany and the rude world of commerce come together in a rampant hybrid.