Light to Life The miracle of photosynthesis and how it can save the planet

Putting the Earth under a microscope, this book shines a light on one of the most powerful and unsung forces of nature...

"Read this book and you will learn how photosynthesis was discovered, how it works, and how we can produce more food to feed the world." - PAUL NURSE, Nobel Prize winner and author of What is Life?

In Light to 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. This is the first non-academic exploration of a phenomenon that touches every person on the planet; Light to Life strikes a balance between the fascinating science behind photosynthesis and the human stories that are intertwined with it.

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, stabilise 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, 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.

Raffael Jovine was born and raised in Munich, and educated in Britain and the US. He trained in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale, did his PdD in Marine Sciences, then researched the photosynthetic strategies that enable algae to outcompete other organisms at MIT. He is the founder and chief scientist for a company that uses seawater, sunlight and wind to grow food in coastal deserts, replicating algal blooms. He is married with five children and lives in London.