Plants have transformed the surface of the earth and the contents of our atmosphere. To do this they've developed elaborate systems of roots and branches which (sometimes) follow uncanny mathematical patterns such as the Fibonacci sequence. Our guest this week, Sandy Hetherington, leads Edinburgh's Molecular Palaeobotany and Evolution Group. They take a no-holds-barred approach to understanding plant development by combining genomics, fossil records, herbaria, and 3D modeling. Dig in! * Show notes: multiverses.xyz [https://www.multiverses.xyz/podcast/mv10-plants-roots-spirals-and-palaeobotany-sandy-hetherington/] * Sandy's Twitter: @sandy_heth [https://twitter.com/sandy_heth]  * Hetherington lab Twitter  @MPEG_Edinburgh [https://twitter.com/MPEG_Edinburgh]  * In New Scientist on (lack of) spiral forms in ancient plant leaves  [https://www.newscientist.com/article/2378234-ancient-plants-leaves-didnt-follow-golden-rule-as-modern-ones-do/] * BBC article on Herbaria [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46374291] * The Guardian on Sany's work on plant roots [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/23/lost-worlds-revisited-the-hidden-life-of-plant-roots] (00:00) Intro (2:15) Discussion starts