A tribute to Lawrence Rogers Blinks (1900–1989): light and algae

Abstract

We honor Lawrence Rogers Blinks (1900-1989) in this tribute. We introduce his scientific life that started at the Harvard University, and ended at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. We discuss his pioneering contributions in the areas of ion transport in membranes and of photosynthesis, particularly of the phenomenon that became known as the Blinks Effect, later linked to the two-light and two-pigment system scheme of photosynthesis. We have drawn information from the 2006 symposium held in his honor in California, and from the extensive 2006 and 2008 recollections of Francis Haxo, one of the major coworkers of Blinks.