Abstract
THE recent demonstrations, by isotopic analysis1, that the oxygen evolved during green-plant photosynthesis is derived from decomposition of water has falsified what is perhaps the most widespread assumption in text-books. It has been all but universally taught that, because a green plant under the influence of sunlight takes in carbon dioxide and evolves oxygen, the oxygen comes from decomposition of the oxide of carbon. The supposed reaction upon which this teaching is based may be given as .
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NICOL, H. Photosynthesis, Philosophy and Priestley. Nature 158, 200 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/158200a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/158200a0
