But David Walker aimed at something more than this. His purpose was to write a book on his own branch of science which would be understood and appreciated by the general public. Surely processes so intimately connected with the origins of life, with evolution and with our future survival, processes that occur in the humblest of green plants with which everybody is familiar, are of interest to the most 'lay' of men and women. Have not the origins and evolution of a philosophical interest that is comparable with the origins and evolution of Inanimate matter. There are countless popular books on cosmology but very few on photobiology. One of difficulties is is that far more is known about the latter and it is mostly hard science with little place for conjecture so anything approaching a complete account is not going to be popular with the general public. Of course, one may describe the essential chemistry of photosynthesis in a few sentences (although it is remarkable how few of our intelligent friends could give an account even of those) but the fun starts as one digs more deeply into the exquisite dcsigns of the engines by which the antennae of green leaves collect the sunbeams and tum them to objects of great beauty or utility. And this is a fun book. The science is told from the beginning with an introduction to atoms and molecules, oxidation and reduction, thermodynamics and light, followed by botany and biochemistry. All these are necessary to any account of photosynthesis but how can they be presented in a single volume for a lay reader without giving that reader acute indigestion? How can one avoid being shallow without leading the reader too quickly into deep water? The answer, if there is indeed an answer, attempted in this volume, is twofold. First the style of writing is such that one can dip into most sections without having read everything that went before. In this respect it is like a bedside book, and the resemblance is made closer by the numerous quotations and illustrations. In particular there are many lively cartoons -on almost every page- drawn by the author’s son Richard, which provide vital buoyancy to the reader who begins to feel out of his depth. When the political and social implications of his subject, especially those in the energy field arise for discussion, as they frequently do, the author has no inhibitions about abandoning the scientific impartiality elsewhere in the book and he makes it quite clear in the preface that these digressions are intentional and his own. It is unusual to find opinions of this kind mixed into a scientific text and it would be unforgiveable if there were any confusion as to what is objective science and what is personal opinion. One finds this confusion, or even deception, all too often in texts on environmental or social matters. In this book the science and the sermon are easily distinguished.

George Porter, (Nobel Laureate, onetime Director of the Royal Institution and President of the Royal Society) Centre for Photomolecular Sciences at Imperial College, London

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