The new edition of this authoritative text provides an interdisciplinary treatise of all aspects of the interactions between light and the living world. It starts with a description of the physics of light, and how to deal with it in experiments and observations. The phenomena described in the rest of the book covers all organisms: how light is used by organisms for obtaining energy for life processes, for gathering information about the environment, and for communicating with others of the same or other species. The book also describes "bad" effects of light in causing disease or contributing to formation of environmental toxins. New techniques used by scientists to investigate life processes using light are also explored in the volume.
Written by experts in the field, Photobiology: The Science of Life and Light, 3e is a valuable and accessible resource for both advanced undergraduates and established researchers.
Author(s): Lars Olof Björn (eds.)
Edition: 3
Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 455
Tags: Plant Sciences; Plant Anatomy/Development; Evolutionary Biology; Plant Physiology
Front Matter....Pages i-xi
The Nature of Light and Its Interaction with Matter....Pages 1-20
Principles and Nomenclature for the Quantification of Light....Pages 21-25
Generation and Control of Light....Pages 27-35
The Measurement of Light....Pages 37-49
Light as a Tool for Biologists: Recent Developments....Pages 51-70
Terrestrial Daylight....Pages 71-75
Underwater Light....Pages 77-84
Action Spectroscopy in Biology....Pages 85-96
Spectral Tuning in Biology I: Pigments....Pages 97-117
Spectral Tuning in Biology II: Structural Color....Pages 119-137
Photoactive Proteins....Pages 139-150
Molecules and Photochemical Reactions in Biological Light Perception and Regulation....Pages 151-167
Photoreceptive Proteins and Their Evolution....Pages 169-176
Signaling Cross Talk Under the Control of Plant Photoreceptors....Pages 177-187
The Diversity of Eye Optics....Pages 189-206
The Evolution of Photosynthesis and Its Environmental Impact....Pages 207-230
Photosynthetic Light Harvesting....Pages 231-241
How Light Resets Circadian Clocks....Pages 243-297
Photomorphogenesis and Photoperiodism in Plants....Pages 299-321
The Light-Dependent Magnetic Compass....Pages 323-334
Phototoxicity....Pages 335-345
Ozone Depletion and the Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation....Pages 347-364
Vitamin D: Photobiological and Ecological Aspects....Pages 365-379
The Photobiology of Human Skin....Pages 381-394
Light-Promoted Infection....Pages 395-398
Bioluminescence....Pages 399-413
Role of Ultraviolet Radiation in the Origin of Life....Pages 415-420
Hints for Teaching Experiments and Demonstrations....Pages 421-436
The Amateur Scientist’s Spectrophotometer....Pages 437-444
Back Matter....Pages 445-455
