Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet

From acclaimed science journalist Oliver Morton comes Eating the Sun, a fascinating, lively, profound look at photosynthesis, nature's greatest miracle. From the physics, chemistry, and cellular biology that make photosynthesis possible, to the quirky and competitive scientists who first discovered the beautifully honed mechanisms of photosynthesis, to the modern energy crisis we face today, Eating the Sun offers a complete biography of the earth through the lens of this common but crucial process. |

Wherever there is greenery, photosynthesis is working to make oxygen, release energy, and create living matter from the raw material of sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. Without photosynthesis, there would be an empty world, an empty sky, and a sun that does nothing more than warm the rocks and reflect off the sea.

Eating the Sun is the story of a world in crisis; an appreciation of the importance of plants; a history of the earth and the feuds and fantasies of warring scientists; a celebration of how the smallest things, enzymes and pigments, influence the largest things, the oceans, the rainforests, and the fossil fuel economy. Oliver Morton offers a fascinating, lively, profound look at nature's greatest miracle and sounds a much-needed call to arms—illuminating a potential crisis of climatic chaos and explaining how we can change our situation, for better or for worse.

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“A poetic account of photosynthesis...Morton finds inspiration for both an ode to nature and reason for optimism about the technologies designed to mimic it.” - Seed

“For all of us who’ve shivered outside on a bitterly cold morning and muttered, ‘So much for global warming,’ Eating the Sun helps us understand the immense complexity of what’s really going on.” - Boston Globe

“A fascinating and important book” - Ian McEwan, author of Atonement, Saturday, and On Chesil Beach

“I enjoyed this book as much for the crazed asides as for the upsetting insights.” - Sunday Times (London)

“A rare delight....Oliver Morton writes so engagingly that [Eating the Sun] reads as a well-crafted biography of the earth on behalf of the plant kingdom.” - Prospect Magazine

“Everything you could possibly want from a popular science book. There is wonder here, and intellectual excitement; clear explanation and lyrical writing; and much new insight into how the world works, linking the very small and very large. . . . Research funders should feel a duty to take heed. Everyone else can read Morton’s fascinating book for pleasure.” - The Independent