Aquatic Photosynthesis

Rating:

This definitive text on aquatic photosynthesis reads like a good novel. It takes the reader on a scientific adventure through the fundamentals of light absorption and the biophysics of the light reactions all the way to the biogeochemistry and evolution. Interspersed throughout the book are particularly interesting anecdotes about everything from the molecular clock to hole burning. A scientific tour de force!

photosynthesis from the subatomic to the global level

Rating:

This is an extremely interesting and useful book for anyone working with or needing knowledge of photosynthesis in algae and other aquatic plants. The emphasis on biophysics in the first few chapters sheds a whole new light on the processes of photosynthesis at the most basic level. The information is general and does not give extensive citations to current scientific work, but rather focuses on the historical research leading to current understanding of photosynthesis.

My one criticism so far is with the number of errors, typographical and other, in some of the graphs and figures, making it quite hard to figure out just what is what. Hopefully there will be a revised edition which will correct these.