Photobiology

Since the publication of the first edition in 2002, there has been an explosion of new knowledge in the field of photobiology.

Photobiology: The Science of Life and Light, Second edition, is fully updated and offers eight new chapters for a comprehensive look at photobiology. The chapters cover all areas of photobiology, photochemistry, and relationship between light and biology, each with up-to-date references. The chapter authors (of which seven are new) have very different backgrounds, and have produced a truly cross-disciplinary treatise.

The book starts with the physics and chemistry of light, and how to handle light in the laboratory and measure it in the field, the properties of daylight, and new uses of light in research. It deals with the evolution of photosynthesis and with the mechanisms of its primary steps. Four chapters deal with how organisms use light for their orientation in space and time: the biological clock and its resetting by light, the light-dependent magnetic compass, and photoperiodism in animals and plants. There are also several medically oriented chapters and two chapters specifically aimed at the photobiology educator.

The book is suitable for biologically interested readers at different levels from undergraduates to professors, researchers and medical doctors.

About the Editor:

Lars Olof Björn is professor emeritus at Lund University and has earned several prizes for popularizing science, as well as a Linnaeus prize for botany and a Rimington prize for photobiology. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and was on the board of the International Photobiology Association for twelve years.

Lars Olof Björn is professor emeritus at Lund University and has earned several prizes for popularizing science, as well as a Linnaeus prize for botany and a Rimington prize for photobiology. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and was on the board of the International Photobiology Association for twelve years.

From the reviews of the second edition:

"This unique volume addresses the biological diversity and interdisciplinarity of photobiology in a current, comprehensive way. General material about photobiological techniques and the nature of light connects with more specialized chapters on topics including photosynthesis, photomorphogenesis, photoperiodism, bioluminescence, and vision. … The expertise of leading photobiologist Björn … and the other authors is evident throughout the book. … Illustrations are well chosen … . Björn’s book is more detailed, cohesive, and up-to-date. … Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals." (H. L. Gorton, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (11), 2008)

“The book covers a very wide range of photobiological disciplines. This approach enables to elucidate similarities in individual mechanisms, for instance photosynthesis and vision. … The book is basically suited for students and teachers. … A great advantage of the book is combination of theoretical and very precious practical information. Everyone interested in the interaction of light and biological systems will find important and wide information there.”­­­ (J. Nauš, Photosynthetica, Vol. 48 (1), 2010)