Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 400
THE ESSENTIAL ROLE OF CLAY. AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN EVOLUTION is so because chlorophyll never evolved. Not a trace of its evolution can be detected on land, air or sea. . As life began on earth, all vegetative growth which chlorophyll contains a green pigmented material entrapped the incident sunlight, converting it to chemical energy to synthesize organic compounds from inorganic compounds. During this process they manufactured carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water releasing oxygen simultaneously: 6CO2 + 6H2O LIGHT ENERGY C6H12O6 + 602. Chlorophyll is of two types, chlorophyll a (CH2MgNO) and chlorophyll b (CH,MgNО). The composition of these formulae has the exact placing of each element in a certain sequence which is reminiscent of the composition of haemoglobin - being no less wonderful in its complexity. Thus writes Steven Rose in his book The. Chemistry of Life: 'Although chlorophyll is by no means the only photosynthetic pigment, it is the only essential one. . . . The polar head part of the molecule is in fact very similar in design to that of the haem of the cytochromes and haemoglobin. Like haem it consists of a linked series of four carbon-and-nitrogen containing rings (‘pyrrole rings') joined together to form a sort of doughnut with a hole in the middle. . This hole is filled in haem by the metal iron: in chlorophyll on the other hand the jam in the doughnut is made of magnesium. The ring structures contain a series of alternating double and single bonds, and the absorption of a given small amount of light (a quantum) of a particular wavelength causes a sort of vibration, or resonance around these bonds. . Because of the close packing and stable orientation of the pigment molecules within the lamellae, this 389