© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 7 Definition of photosynthesis History of the word photosynthesis and evolution of its definition

• Main Author: Howard Gest
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Carbonic acid
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.561.2922; http://www.life.illinois.edu/govindjee/Part1/Part1_Gest.pdf

In 1893, Charles Barnes (1858–1910) proposed that the biological process for ‘synthesis of complex carbon com-pounds out of carbonic acid, in the presence of chlorophyll, under the influence of light ’ should be designated as either ‘photosyntax ’ or ‘photosynthesis. ’ He preferred the word ‘photosyntax, ’ but ‘photosynthesis ’ came into com-mon usage as the term of choice. Later discovery of anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria and photophosphorylation necessitated redefinition of the term. This essay examines the history of changes in the meaning of photosynthesis.