BioSec: Text: Unit 1: Setting the Stage

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Light and Life

The book starts out talking about Monet, the French impressionist painter, and the reason why his later paintings lacked light blue, and appeared to be toned towards red-yellow. This was due to a physical ailment of cataracts. The opaqueness of a cataract affected lens causes it to absorb certain wavelengths of light.

The way in which you see the world is affected by biological processes. The way in which you view a computer is similar – an operating system on a machine is effectively a map to the internal workings of the machine. It gives you a perspective view of how to interact and process information stored within a computer.


The Physical Nature of Light

Light functions: Light is a source of energy that sustains life. Light provides organisms with information about the physical world.

Light as a Source of Energy

Light as a Source of Information

Light can Damage Biological Molecules

Role of Light in Ecology and Behaviour

Life in the Dark

Organisms Making their own Light: Bioluminescence