Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In
How Light Makes Life, biologist Raffael Jovine takes us on a journey of discovery into the intricate, beautiful and often surprising processes that convert energy from the sun into life and how all-important these are to our survival. Despite the unprecedented challenges the Earth faces from global warming, habitat loss, air pollution and population growth, Jovine shows us that there is hope to be found. Photosynthesis is the very source of life: it has the power not just to produce food, but to reshape continents, drive biogeochemical cycles, stabilize the climate, and regulate weather.
In this exciting, revelatory book, Jovine unveils a blueprint for the future: greening the desert, bringing the ocean on land, planting mangrove forests and oyster banks, and growing algae for animal feed, human food, and soil carbon. He demonstrates how by harnessing photosynthesis we can regenerate the planet and revise the way we human beings interact with it. This book will help you to see the world in a different way, in all its wonderful detail--through the photosynthetic pigments in your eyes.
Synopsis
A revelatory journey into the beautifully intricate conversion of light into life, key to every living thing's survival--and our planet's future
We think we know photosynthesis: Plants convert of sunlight, CO2, and water into energy and, ultimately, the food we eat and air we breathe. But Raffael Jovine shows how this incredible process goes beyond what we learned in grade school. First, it's not only about plants: Corals partner with photosynthetic organisms to create the most productive habitat on Earth, slugs eat chloroplasts to create a photosynthesis-based camouflage, hornets use photosynthesis for a very unconventional form of air conditioning--and much more
Further, photosynthesis can help save the world. Jovine's groundbreaking blueprint for the future harnesses photosynthesis to repair ecosystems, create jobs, and grow sustainable food. This book will help you to see the many surprising ways we can't live without this miracle of light--through the photosynthetic pigments in your own eyes
Synopsis
Want to save the world? Listen to the plants.
It's a clunky word for a miracle: Photosynthesis. But there's no life on Earth without it. For biologist Raffael Jovine, it's a consuming passion, a great unsung force of nature. He makes his case in How Light Makes Life, a catalog of living wonders--and a blueprint for a better planet.
Imagine harvesting pure sunlight to use as fuel, while turning carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. This is what a leaf does every day. And photosynthesis isn't just for plants: Corals partner with photosynthetic organisms to create the most productive habitat on Earth. Slugs eat chloroplasts as natural green camouflage. Hornets use photosynthesis as an innovative means of air-conditioning--and much more
The revelatory vision of How Light Makes Life is how we ourselves might harness the power of photosynthesis: to repair ecosystems, stabilize the climate, and grow more food sustainably. On this vivid journey, you'll see how every seed contains the key to our future--through the photosynthetic pigments in your own eyes
Synopsis
A revelatory journey of discovery into the intricate, beautiful, and often surprising processes that convert energy from the sun into life, and how all-important these are to our survival--and our planet's future
It's a clunky word for a miracle: Photosynthesis. But there's no life on Earth without it. For biologist Raffael Jovine, it's a consuming passion, a great unsung force of nature. He makes his case in How Light Makes Life, a catalog of living wonders--and a blueprint for a better planet.
Imagine harvesting pure sunlight to use as fuel, while turning carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. This is what a leaf does every day. And photosynthesis isn't just for plants: Corals partner with photosynthetic organisms to create the most productive habitat on Earth. Slugs eat chloroplasts as natural green camouflage. Hornets use photosynthesis as an innovative means of air-conditioning--and much more
The revelatory vision of How Light Makes Life is how we ourselves might harness the power of photosynthesis: to repair ecosystems, stabilize the climate, and grow more food sustainably. On this vivid journey, you'll see how every seed contains the key to our future--through the photosynthetic pigments in your own eyes
Synopsis
It's a clunky word for a miracle: Photosynthesis. But there's no life on Earth without it. For biologist Raffael Jovine, it's a consuming passion, a great unsung force of nature. He makes his case in How Light Makes Life, a catalog of living wonders--and a blueprint for a better planet.
Imagine harvesting pure sunlight to use as fuel, while turning carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. This is what a leaf does every day. And photosynthesis isn't just for plants: Corals partner with photosynthetic organisms to create the most productive habitat on Earth. Slugs eat chloroplasts as natural green camouflage. Hornets use photosynthesis as an innovative means of air-conditioning--and much more
The revelatory vision of How Light Makes Life is how we ourselves might harness the power of photosynthesis: to repair ecosystems, stabilize the climate, and grow more food sustainably. On this vivid journey, you'll see how every seed contains the key to our future--through the photosynthetic pigments in your own eyes