Who was Melvin Ellis Calvin?
Q: Who was Melvin Ellis Calvin?
A: Melvin Ellis Calvin was an American chemist who discovered the Calvin cycle with Andrew Benson and James Bassham and was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this work.
Q: Where did Calvin spend most of his career?
A: Calvin spent most of his five-decade career at the University of California, Berkeley.
Q: What did Calvin and his colleagues achieve using the carbon-14 isotope?
A: Using the carbon-14 isotope as a tracer, Calvin and colleagues mapped the complete route that carbon travels through a plant during photosynthesis, showing that sunlight acts on the chlorophyll in a plant to fuel the manufacture of organic compounds.
Q: What is the Calvin cycle and who discovered it?
A: The Calvin cycle is the process by which plants convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and other organic compounds. It was discovered by Melvin Ellis Calvin, Andrew Benson, and James Bassham.
Q: Which title did Calvin hold in addition to his career in chemistry?
A: In 1963, Calvin was given the additional title of Professor of Molecular Biology.
Q: Did Calvin share the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with anyone else?
A: No, Calvin was the sole recipient of the 1961 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Q: Did Calvin write an autobiography?
A: Yes, Calvin wrote an autobiography titled Following the trail of light: a scientific odyssey, three decades after his Nobel Prize win.
