When algae first emerged from the oceans some 480 million years ago to become plants, they had no roots, so they established a symbiotic relationship with fungi, which were essentially nothing but roots. The fungi had the capability of extracting critical moisture and minerals from the ground, while the algae could photosynthesize sugars from sunlight, so the two organisms established a mutually beneficial partnership. This is a subject that has been explored by Dr. Suzanne Simard in her seminal book, Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. Rupert Sheldrake has explored the mysterious world of fungi even further in his remarkable book, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds. And George Monbiot has added further dimensions to this fascinating subject in Regenesis, in which he examines the complexity of life systems in soils. Chapter 1, “What Lies Beneath”, is particularly illuminating.