The original vivaria were relevant in global environmental education from their very inception.  The value of enclosed "pico-ecosystems" was discovered by accident, by a British botanist, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Bagshaw_Ward | Nathaniel Ward]], who noticed that, although London's smog was killing the imported ferns in his garden, in the bottles of soil brought from the ferns' native ecosystems, populated with insects able to recycle oxygen into CO'_2_', the same ferns sprouted quite healthily.

This discovery, and the subsequent invention of the [[Wardian case]], had several salutary effects.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardian_case | Wardian case]] - Victorian-era vivaria.

This discovery, and the invention of the Wardian Case that followed, had several salutary effects.

* Heightened Victorian awareness of the risks of air pollution.
* The creation of a whole industry: vivaria as a hobby, and for research.
* Social clubs that brought social classes together over botanical imports.
* Expanding public awareness of other ecosystems around the world.
* Through [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pteridomania | Pteridomania]], informing Victorian culture with material inspiration for new esthetic elements in graphic design.

[[Project Persephone]] aims to assess the recreational, social and environmental education value of [[exovivaria]] - vivaria maintained [[telebots | teleoperatively]] in Earth orbit.

%rfloat% http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Leipzig_GfZK_Vivarium.jpg/120px-Leipzig_GfZK_Vivarium.jpg
[[Project Persephone]] aims to assess the recreational, social and environmental education value of [[exovivaria]] - vivaria maintained teleoperatively in outer space.

The original vivaria were relevant in global environmental education from their very inception.  The value of enclosed "pico-ecosystems" was discovered by accident, by a British botanist who noticed that, although London's smog was killing the imported ferns in his garden, in the bottles of soil brought from the ferns' native ecosystems, populated with insects able to recycle oxygen into CO'_2_', the same ferns sprouted quite healthily.

[[Project Persephone]]'s aims to assess the recreational, social and environmental education value of [[exovivaria]] - vivaria maintained teleoperatively in outer space.

This discovery, and the invention of the Wardian Case, that followed had several salutary effects.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wardian_Case.jpg

The original vivaria were relevant in global environmental education from their very inception.  The value of enclosed "pico-ecosystems" was discovered by accident, by a British botanist who noticed that, although London's smog was killing the imported ferns in his garden, the bottles of soil brought from the ferns' native ecosystems, populated with insects able to recycle oxygen into CO'_2_', had the same ferns sprouting quite healthily.

This discovery and the invention of the Wardian Case that followed had several salutary effects.

* Heightened Victorian awareness of the risks of air pollution,
* The creation of a whole industry, of creating vivaria
* Social clubs that brought social classes together over botanical imports,
* Expanding general public awareness of other ecosystems around the world,

The original vivaria were relevant in global environmental education from their very inception.  The value of enclosed "pico-ecosystems" was discovered by accident, by a British botanist who noticed that, although London's smog was killing the imported ferns in his garden, the bottles of soil brought from the ferns' native ecosystems, populated with insects able to recycle oxygen into CO2, had the same ferns sprouting quite healthily.