The History

The goal of this website is to give a brief overview of the process of photosynthesis, and provide some intriguing ways in which physics can explain different aspects of this process.

Photosynthesis was first discovered in 1779 by a Dutch-born British physician and scientist, Jan Ingenhousz. In his book, Experiments Upon Vegetables, Discovering Their Great Power of Purifying the Common Air in Sunshine, and of Injuring It in the Shade and at Night he discovered three essential points. One that light was neccessary for photosynthesis, two that only the green parts of the plants he was studying actually perform photosynthesis, and three all living parts of the plant respire, but the extent of air restoration exceeds the effect of the respiration of the rest of the plant.