Photosynthesis
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss photosynthesis, a chemical process which drives most life on Earth.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss photosynthesis, the process by which green plants and many other organisms use sunlight to synthesise organic molecules. Photosynthesis arose very early in evolutionary history and has been a crucial driver of life on Earth. In addition to providing most of the food consumed by organisms on the planet, it is also responsible for maintaining atmospheric oxygen levels, and is thus almost certainly the most important chemical process ever discovered.
With:
Nick Lane
Reader in Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London
Sandra Knapp
Botanist at the Natural History Museum
John Allen
Professor of Biochemistry at Queen Mary, University of London.
Producer: Thomas Morris
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A collection of Radio 4 programmes about trees.
LINKS AND FURTHER READING
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READING LIST:
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David Beerling, The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth’s History (Oxford University Press, 2008)
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Robert E. Blankenship, Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014)
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Govindjee, J. T. Beatty, H. Gest, J. F. Allen (eds.), Discoveries in Photosynthesis (Springer, 2005)
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Andrew H. Knoll, Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth (Princeton University Press, 2004)
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Nick Lane, Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World (Oxford University Press, 2003)
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Nick Lane, Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution (Profile Books, 2010)
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David Lee, Nature’s Palette: The Science of Plant Color (University of Chicago Press, 2008)
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Oliver Morton, Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet (Fourth Estate, 2009)
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Tim Lenton and Andrew Watson, Revolutions that Made the Planet (Oxford University Press, 2011)
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Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Melvyn Bragg |
| Interviewed Guest | Nick Lane |
| Interviewed Guest | Sandra Knapp |
| Interviewed Guest | John Allen |
| Producer | Thomas Morris |
Broadcasts
- Thu 15 May 2014 09:00Â鶹Éç Radio 4
- Thu 15 May 2014 21:30Â鶹Éç Radio 4
- Thu 14 May 2020 09:00Â鶹Éç Radio 4
- Thu 14 May 2020 21:30Â鶹Éç Radio 4
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