Plants and their intelligent design don’t get the attention they deserve, including, if we’re being candid, from ID scientists. To make amends for that, at the most recent Dallas Conference on Science and Faith, Daniel and Emily Reeves did a beautiful job of presenting together on the design of these green creatures. 

Creatures? Daniel explains plausibly that plants are indeed creatures, whose ingenious engineering demands our admiration as much as that of any other. He cites Robert Boyle, chemist and Sabbatarian, who devoted his Sabbath study to the Book of Nature. God’s possessions, made with wisdom, very much include plants. Daniel quotes from Psalm 104, a hymn to divine design, with an emphasis on types of vegetation. 

He gives a macro picture of plant leaves as the most highly functional solar panels in existence, while Dr. Emily Reeves delves into the biochemical wonders of photosynthesis. She notes, for example, the operation of photosystem II, “the only enzyme in nature that is known to be able to split a water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen. That means that this little enzyme that’s in plant leaves is responsible for producing over 99 percent of all the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere.” If you are currently breathing, you have “this little guy” to thank. 

Their presentation is rich in both detail and charm. You will enjoy it: