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'{{Infobox scientist |name = Melvin Calvin |image = Melvin Calvin.jpg | imagesize = 180px |caption = Melvin Calvin |birth_date = April 8, 1911 |birth_place = [[St. Paul, Minnesota]], [[United States|USA]] |nationality = [[United States]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1997|1|8|1911|4|8}} |death_place = [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]], [[California]] |field = [[Chemistry]], [[Biology]] |work_institution = [[University of Manchester]]<br />[[University of California, Berkeley]]<br>[[Berkeley Radiation Laboratory]]<br>[[Science Advisory Committee]] |alma_mater = [[Michigan Technological University|Michigan College of Mining and Technology]]<br>[[University of Minnesota]] |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = [[Calvin cycle]] |prizes = [[Nobel Prize for Chemistry]] (1961)<br>[[Priestley Medal]]<br>[[Davy Medal]]<br>[[Gold Medal]] from American Institute of Chemists<br>[[National Medal of Science]] (1989)<ref>[http://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.cfm?recip_id=68 National Science Foundation - The President's National Medal of Science]</ref> }} '''Melvin Ellis Calvin''' (April 8, 1911 – January 8, 1997)<ref>{{cite doi|10.1098/rsbm.2007.0050}}</ref> was an [[United States|American]] [[chemist]] most famed for discovering the [[Calvin cycle]] along with [[Andrew Benson]] and [[James Bassham]], for which he was awarded the 1961 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]]. He spent most of his five-decade career at the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. == Life == Calvin was born in [[St. Paul, Minnesota]], the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. His father was born in Tsarist Lithuania and his mother in Tsarist [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. As a small child, Calvin's family moved to [[Detroit]]; he graduated from [[Central High School (Detroit, Michigan)|Central High School]] in 1928.<ref>http://www.bookrags.com/biography/melvin-calvin/</ref> Melvin Calvin earned his Bachelor of Science from the [[Michigan College of Mining and Technology]] (now known as [[Michigan Technological University]]) in 1931 and his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in chemistry from the [[University of Minnesota]] in 1935. He then spent the next four years doing postdoctoral work at the [[University of Manchester]]. He married Genevieve Jemtegaard in 1942, and they had three children, two daughters and a son. Calvin joined the faculty at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1937 and was promoted to Professor of Chemistry in 1947. Using the [[carbon-14]] isotope as a tracer, Calvin, [[Andrew Benson]] and [[James Bassham]] mapped the complete route that carbon travels through a plant during [[photosynthesis]], starting from its absorption as atmospheric carbon dioxide to its conversion into carbohydrates and other organic compounds.<ref>{{Citation |pmid = 13383309 |last=CALVIN |first=M |publication-date=1956 Dec 7 |year=1956 |title=[The photosynthetic cycle.] |volume=38 |issue=11 |periodical=Bull. Soc. Chim. Biol. |pages=1233–44 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |pmid = 13363921 |last=BARKER |first=S A |last2=BASSHAM |first2=J A |last3=CALVIN |first3=M |last4=QUARCK |first4=U C |publication-date=1956 Aug |year=1956 |title=Intermediates in the photosynthetic cycle. |volume=21 |issue=2 |periodical=Biochim. Biophys. Acta |pages=376–7 |doi = 10.1016/0006-3002(56)90022-1 }}</ref> In doing so, Calvin, Benson and Bassham showed that sunlight acts on the [[chlorophyll]] in a plant to fuel the manufacturing of organic compounds, rather than on [[carbon dioxide]] as was previously believed. Calvin was the sole recipient of the 1961 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for what is sometimes known as the [[Calvin cycle|Calvin-Benson-Bassham]] Cycle. Calvin wrote an autobiography three decades later titled ''Following the Trail of Light: A Scientific Odyssey''. In it, he makes no mention of Andrew Benson and the fundamental, formative contributions that Benson made to these discoveries.<ref>{{cite book |last = Calvin |first = Melvin |title = ''Following the Trail of Light: A Scientific Odyssey (Profiles, Pathways & Dreams) '' |year = 1992 |publisher = Wiley VCH |isbn = 0841218285 }} </ref> During the 1950s he was among the first members of the [[Society for General Systems Research]]. In 1963 he was given the additional title of Professor of Molecular Biology. He was founder and Director of the Laboratory of Chemical Biodynamics and simultaneously Associate Director of [[Berkeley Radiation Laboratory]], where he conducted much of his research until his retirement in 1980. In his final years of active research, he studied the use of oil-producing plants as renewable sources of energy. He also spent many years testing the chemical evolution of life and wrote a book on the subject that was published in 1969.<ref>Calvin, Melvin. ''Chemical evolution: molecular evolution towards the origin of living systems on the earth and elsewhere.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969. ISBN 0198553420.</ref> == Legacy == On June 16, 2011, it was announced by the [[United States Postal Service]] that Melvin Calvin would be featured on the [[Forever Stamp]], along with three other American scientists. This was also announced on the [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] home page. ==See also== * [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Publications== <div class="references-small"> *Calvin, M. and A. A. Benson.[http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0304&numPages=17&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis"], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (March 8, 1948). *Stepka, W., Benson, A. A., and M. Calvin. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0305&numPages=8&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis II. Amino Acids"], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (May 25, 1948). *Benson, A. A. and M. Calvin. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0306&numPages=16&fp=N "Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis III."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (June 1, 1948). *Calvin, M. and A. A. Benson [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0307&numPages=16&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis IV. The Identity and Sequence of the Intermediates in Sucrose Synthesis."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (December 14, 1948). *Benson, A. A., Bassham, J. A., Calvin, M., Goodale, T. C., Haas, V. A. and W. Stepka. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0308&numPages=34&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis V. Paper Chromatography and Radioautography of the Products."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (June 13, 1949). *Calvin, M. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0309&numPages=74&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis VI."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (June 30, 1949). *Benson, A. A. and M. Calvin. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0310&numPages=16&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis VII. Respiration and Photosynthesis."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (July 21, 1949). *Bassham, J. A., Benson, A. A. and M. Calvin. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0311&numPages=14&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis VIII. The Role of Malic Acid."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (January 25, 1950). *Badin, E. J.and M. Calvin. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0312&numPages=21&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis IX. Photosynthesis, Photoreduction, and the Hydrogen-Oxygen-Carbon Dioxide Dark Reaction."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (February 1, 1950). *Calvin, M., Bassham, J. A., Benson, A. A., Lynch, V., Ouellet, C., Schou, L., Stepka, W. and N. E. Tolbert. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0313&numPages=39&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis X. Carbon Dioxide Assimilation in Plants."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (April 1, 1950). *Schou, L., Benson, A. A., Bassham, J. A. and M. Calvin. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0314&numPages=20&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis XI. The Role of Glycolic Acid."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (September 11, 1950). *Calvin, M., Bassham, J. A., Benson, A. A., Kawaguchi, S., Lynch, V. H., Stepka, W. and N. E. Tolbert. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0317&numPages=52&fp=N " The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis XIV."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (June 30, 1951). *Benson, A. A., Bassham, J. A., Calvin, M., Hall, A. G., Hirsch, H., Kawaguchi, S., Lynch, V. and N. E. Tolbert. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0318&numPages=26&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis XV. Ribulose and Sedoheptulose."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (January 1952). *Benson, A. A., Kawaguchi, S., Hayes, P. and M. Calvin. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0319&numPages=24&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis XVI. Kinetic Relationships of the Intermediates in Steady State Photosynthesis."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (June 5, 1952). *Buchanan, J. G., Bassham, J. A., Benson, A. A., Bradley, D. F., Calvin, M., Daus, L. L., Goodman, M., Hayes, P. M., Lynch, V. H., Norris, L. T. and A. T. Wilson. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0320&numPages=32&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis XVII. Phosphorus Compounds as Intermediates in Photosynthesis."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (July 8, 1952). *Buchanan, J. G., Lynch, V. H., Benson, A. A., Calvin, M. and D. F. Bradley. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0321&numPages=24&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis XVIII. The Identification of Nucleotide Coenzymes."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (January 19, 1953). *Calvin, M. and P. Massini. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0323&numPages=49&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis XX. The Steady State."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (September 1952). *Calvin, M. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0325&numPages=32&fp=N "Photosynthesis: The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis and the Primary Quantum Conversion Act of Photosynthesis."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (November 22, 1952). *Bassham, J. A., Benson, A. A., Kay, L. D. Harris, A. Z., Wilson, A. T. and Calvin, M. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0324&numPages=44&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis XXI. The Cyclic Regeneration of Carbon Dioxide Acceptor."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (October 1, 1953). *Bassham, J. A. and M. Calvin. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0326&numPages=71&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis"], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Lawrence Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (October 1960). *Calvin, M. [http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0327&numPages=49&fp=N "The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis (Nobel Prize Lecture)."], Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Radiation Laboratory-Berkeley, [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (December 11, 1961). </div> ==External links== *[http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/calvin.html Biography and Bibliographic Resources], from the [[Office of Scientific and Technical Information]], [[United States Department of Energy]] *[http://www-library.lbl.gov/teid/tmLib/nobellaureates/LibM_Calvin.htm Nobel speech and biographmems/mcalvin.html Tribute by Glenn Seaborg and Andrew Benson] *[http://web.archive.org/web/20070222195825/http://uk.geocities.com/hertouyt/milko/calvin-speech.html Research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plants] *[http://newton.nap.edu/html/biomems/mcalvin.html Biographical memoir by Glenn Seaborg and Andrew Benson] *[http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/4427511.html U.S. Patent 4427511] Melvin Calvin - Photo-induced electron transfer method *[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/90282/Melvin-Calvin#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Melvin%20Calvin%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia Encyclopedia Britannica Article] *[http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2011/pr11_071.htm USPS News Release: Celebrating American Scientists] Press release for the new [[Forever Stamp]] designs featuring Melvin Calvin. {{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1951-1975}} {{Presidents of the American Chemical Society}} {{Winners of the National Medal of Science|chemistry}} {{Persondata<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] --> |NAME= Calvin, Melvin |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION= [[United States|American]] [[chemist]], Nobel laureate in Chemistry |DATE OF BIRTH= April 13, 1994 |PLACE OF BIRTH= [[St. Paul, Minnesota]], [[USA]] |DATE OF DEATH= 1997-1-8 |PLACE OF DEATH= [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]], [[California]] }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvin, Melvin}} [[Category:1911 births]] [[Category:1997 deaths]] [[Category:American chemists]] [[Category:American Nobel laureates]] [[Category:Guggenheim Fellows]] [[Category:Jewish American scientists]] [[Category:People from Saint Paul, Minnesota]] [[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]] [[Category:Photosynthesis]] [[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]] [[Category:Michigan Technological University alumni]] [[Category:University of Minnesota alumni]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester]] [[Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty]] [[Category:Priestley Medal]] [[Category:Foreign Members of the Royal Society]] [[ar:ملفين كالفن]] [[an:Melvin Calvin]] [[ca:Melvin Calvin]] [[cs:Melvin Calvin]] [[de:Melvin Calvin]] [[es:Melvin Calvin]] [[eo:Melvin Calvin]] [[fr:Melvin Calvin]] [[gd:Melvin Calvin]] [[gl:Melvin Calvin]] [[ko:멜빈 캘빈]] [[io:Melvin Calvin]] [[id:Melvin Calvin]] [[it:Melvin Calvin]] [[he:מלווין קלווין]] [[sw:Melvin Calvin]] [[la:Melvin Calvin]] [[lt:Melvin Calvin]] [[nl:Melvin Calvin]] [[ja:メルヴィン・カルヴィン]] [[no:Melvin Calvin]] [[oc:Melvin Calvin]] [[pnb:میلون کیلون]] [[nds:Melvin Calvin]] [[pl:Melvin Calvin]] [[pt:Melvin Calvin]] [[ro:Melvin Calvin]] [[ru:Калвин, Мелвин]] [[sk:Melvin Calvin]] [[sl:Melvin Calvin]] [[fi:Melvin Calvin]] [[sv:Melvin Calvin]] [[tr:Melvin Calvin]] [[uk:Мелвін Калвін]] [[vi:Melvin Calvin]] [[yo:Melvin Calvin]] [[zh:梅尔文·卡尔文]]'