Skip to main content

Photosynthesis

Carbon Metabolism: The Chloroplast’s Sesquicentenary, and Some Thoughts on the Limits to Plant Productivity

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Progress in Botany/Fortschritte der Botanik ((BOTANY,volume 56))

Abstract

The anonymous author of the above quotation, which is taken from her (or his) legendary children’s story “Jack and the Beanstalk”, commented that it is the kind of thing that “proceeds from the maggots in a madman’s brain”. It does indeed require little worldly experience to recognise that such a prodigious rate of plant growth is unheard of, and the addition of a primary-school level of education would (hopefully!) impart a sufficient knowledge of photosynthesis as to help one realise that, assuming the bean seed was of normal size, such growth would be impossible during the darkness between 22.00 h and morning. Nevertheless, if an innocent child (just exposed to the Jack-and-the-beanstalk tale) was to reflect upon reality and ask why plants do not grow faster than they do, then even a good photosynthesis researcher would find it difficult to frame a concise answer.

“At ten p.m. or thereabout, the little bean began to sprout. By morning it had grown so tall you couldn’t see the top at all”. (Anonymous 1734)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kelly, G.J., Latzko, E. (1995). Photosynthesis. In: Behnke, HD., Lüttge, U., Esser, K., Kadereit, J.W., Runge, M. (eds) Progress in Botany. Progress in Botany/Fortschritte der Botanik, vol 56. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79249-6_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79249-6_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-79251-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-79249-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics