History of Photosynthesis

By Oliver.Turn
  • 300 BCE

    Theophrastus

    Proposed that plants obtain nourishment through their roots

  • Jean Baptiste van Helmont

    Conducted an experiment showing that plant mass comes from water, but overlooked soil weight changes

  • Edme Mariotte

    Suggested that plants absorb nourishment from the atmosphere

  • Stephen Hales

    Suggested that plant leaves absorb nourishment from the air and that light plays a role

  • Stephen Hales

    Demonstrated that water moves from soil to leaves via transpiration.

  • Joseph Priestley

    Discovered that plants restore air made "noxious" by animals or burning candles, later identifying oxygen

  • Jean Senebier

    Demonstrated that green plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen under sunlight.

  • Nicolas de Saussure

    Established that photosynthesis involves carbon dioxide and water, forming organic material and oxygen.

  • René Dutrochet

    Linked chlorophyll to carbon dioxide assimilation.

  • H. H. Dixon & J. Joly

    Proposed the cohesion-tension theory, explaining how water moves upward in plants due to tension created by transpiration

  • Cornelius Bernardus van Niel

    Discovered that photosynthesis involves splitting water molecules, producing oxygen.

  • TW Engelmann

    Used bacteria to show that oxygen production occurs in specific wavelengths of light.

  • Andrew Benson & Melvin Calvin

    Identified the Calvin cycle, explaining how plants convert carbon dioxide into organic molecules.