
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy
Wardian case
January 18, 2020
10 minutes
Available for over a year
Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward's miniature greenhouses made it far easier to successfully transport plants, spreading them far beyond their native lands. But that led to major consequences that Ward hadn't foreseen. Tim Harford tells the story of how glass boxes became powerful weapons in the hands of British colonisers.