LIFE ON EARTH ULTIMATELY DEPENDS ON ENERGY derived from the sun. Photosynthesis is the only process of biological importance that can harvest this energy. In addition, a large fraction of the planet’s energy resources results from photosynthetic activity in either recent or ancient times (fossil fuels). This chapter introduces the basic physical principles that underlie photosynthetic energy storage and the current understanding of the structure and function of the photosynthetic apparatus (Blankenship 2002). The term photosynthesis means literally “synthesis using light.” As we will see in this chapter, photosynthetic organisms use solar energy to synthesize carbon compounds that cannot be.
