Reaching for the sun : how plants work /

Green plants surround us. They are an integral component of the biosphere and essential in the regulation of many global environmental processes. Inspired to present an account of how plants function that a general audience can understand, the author provides a simple, accessible introduction to the living plant. King (emer., Univ. of Saskatchewan, Canada), a plant physiologist, successfully distills the complexities of plant function into five major themes that are used to divide the book into five sections. The first four sections, "Plants and Energy," "Plant Nutrition," "Growth and Development," and "Stress, Defense, and Decline," describe in general terms how plants function. The fifth section, new to this edition, addresses how plants interact with their environment, including a chapter that discusses human impacts on plant function. Each section is divided into chapters that address specific aspects of plant physiology, and contain text boxes that provide additional details for readers who would like more information. Each chapter closes with a concise summary. This new edition (1st ed., CH, Oct'97, 35-0895) has been reorganized and updated, and contains an expanded reference list. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates. A. L. Jocobsen California State University, Bakersfield