Barber, J., and B. Andersson: "Revealing the Blueprint of Photosynthesis," Nature, July 7, 1994, pages 31–34. With increased understanding of how the photosynthetic mechanism works, how might we be able to put it to technological use?

Deisenhofer, J., and H. Michel: "The Photosynthetic Reaction Center of the Purple Bacterium Rhodopseudomonas," Science, 1988, vol. 245, pages 1463–73. The Nobel Prize address for the first description at the molecular level of a photosynthetic reaction center.

Govindjee, and W. Coleman: "How Plants Make Oxygen," Scientific American, February 1990, pages 50–58. How plants and some bacteria exploit solar energy to split water molecules into oxygen gas. (The first author, an expert in primary photochemistry, uses only one name; his last name, Astana, was dropped by his father as a protest against the caste system in India.)

Kuhlbrandt, W. and D. Wang: "Three-Dimensional Structure of Plant Light-Harvesting Complex," Nature, March 1991, vol. 350, pages 130-34. For the first time, the plant photosystem’s molecular architecture is known.

Nash, L.: "Case No. 5: Plants and the Atmosphere," in Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Science, vol. 2, J. Conant, (Ed.), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1964. An engaging description of the early work on photosynthesis, often presented in the words of the investigators themselves.

Pakrasi, H.: Genetic Analysis of the Form and Function of Photosystem I and Photosystem II. Annual Reviews of Genetics, 1995, vol. 29, pages 755–76. A very clear review article discussing recent key findings about photosynthetic photosystems. Technical but highly recommended.

Raven, P., R. Evert, and S. Eichhorn: Biology of Plants, 6th ed., Worth, New York, 1999. The definitive botany text, by one of this text’s authors, comprehensive and easy to read.