Earth is a green planet and its plants are the basis for all life. From the smallest moss to the tallest giant redwood, the swathe of bluebells in a spring woodland to the colours of a New England fall, their diversity, success and ubiquity is plain. Yet few of us are conscious of the microscopic, universal building blocks of this empire, the cells. In Green Universe, eminent botanist Stephen Blackmore takes us on a journey through time and space from the origin of the first cell more than three billion years ago, through their complex intertwined history, to the myriad forms they now take and the perfectly-adapted organs and organisms they make up. The author deftly interweaves the story of life on earth with our quest to understand the cell through the invention and development of the microscope. He shows how plant cells, besides being beautiful, are also through photosynthesis the powerhouses of life on Earth. Lavishly-illustrated in full colour, Green Universe is an engaging read and a mine of information, celebrating the diversity of cells and the unity of all living things into which they are built. Published in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.