Aquatic Photosynthesis is a comprehensive guide to understanding the evolution and ecology of photosynthesis in aquatic environments. This second edition, thoroughly revised and updated, describes how one of the most fundamental metabolic processes evolved and transformed the Earth's surface chemistry. The book focuses on recent biochemical and biophysical advances and the molecular biology techniques that have made them possible.

In ten chapters that are independent but build on the previously presented information, the book starts with a reductionist and biophysical description of photosynthetic reactions. It then progresses through biochemical and molecular biological patterns in aquatic photoautotrophs, physiological and ecological principles, and global biogeochemical cycles. The book considers applications to ecology and refers to historical developments. It can be used as a primary text in a lecture course or as a supplementary text in a survey course such as biological oceanography, limnology, or biogeochemistry.