Turner came to the study of natural history through medicine, a not uncommon path for many that would become natural historians. He studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge where he secured a B.A. in 1530 and an M. A. in 1533. He traveled to continental Europe in 1542 to further his medical education. During his travels, Turner met Conrad Gessner in Zurich and the two became life long friends, and finished his medical degree (exactly where is unknown but it was mostly likely at the University of Bologna).

While trained as a physician, Turner was mostly interested in the medical use of plants. He published several books on the subject, his most famous being his A New Herball, the first part of which was published in 1551, followed by part 2 in 1562 and part 3 in 1568. The Herball was unusual for its time because it was one of the first herbals written in English, not Latin, and therefore made it more approachable to the reading audience of the time. The book contains detailed descriptions of plants found in England, an image of what they look like, any folklore about the plant and finally its medical uses. This last fact caused the book to be criticized for placing medical knowledge into the hands of those untrained in medicine, but may have also lead to the book’s popularity.