In this small book I have tried to confine myself to the absolute
necessities in a field which requires a knowledge of both biology and
physics. It is meant as a primer for biological undergraduates. I hope
it will lead some of them to further, more advanced, study. It has not
been easy to present the subject in so few pages, and I am aware of many
omissions. I hope readers will agree that it is best to concentrate on a
small number of topics, which together constitute an essay on
plant-atmosphere relationships. Advanced students will be able to take
the subject further if they look up some of the references. Text books
that I particularly recommend are those by Monteith [38] and Campbell
[lOO]. If the reader intends to carry out research investigations he
should also consult Fritschen and Lloyd [105] for an introduction to
instrumentation in environmental biophysics.