Neil Brightwell

On a country property a man named Holland lives with his daughter Ellen. Over the years, as she grows into a beautiful young woman, he plants hundreds of different gum trees on his land. When Ellen is nineteen her father announces his decision: she will marry the man who can name all the species of eucalypt, down to the last tree. Suitors emerge from all corners, including the formidable, straight-backed Mr Cave, world expert on the varieties of eucalypt.

What is the greatest scientific idea of all?Because science has so dramatically altered how we live and how we think about ourselves, the answer may well be the very idea of science itself, because-just like science's most important achievements-it, too, needed to be thought about, perfected, and invented.