School of Biological Sciences Professor Emeritus Joseph E. Armstrong has recently published a book titled How the Earth Turned Green: A Brief 3.8-billion-year History of Plants with the University of Chicago Press. 

The primary novelty of the 576-page book is based on several things. First, it’s the whole history of plants. Second, the book is a narrative. Third, it is intended for a more general readership. Fourth, along the way it attempts to explain how things are known and how science works.

Armstrong is the director of the Laboratory for Plant Identification and Conservation and head curator of the George S. Vasey Herbarium.