One of Great Britain's most noted biochemists, A.J.P. Martin developed techniques of paper chromatography in addition to pioneering the separation of gases by chromatography, which revolutionized basic research in organic chemistry. For the development of paper partition chemistry, Martin and his colleague Richard Synge Richard Synge were awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1952.

Archer John Porter Martin was born on March 1, 1910, in London, England, to William Archer Porter Martin, a physician, and Lilian Kate Brown, a nurse. He attended high school in Bedford and graduated in 1929. Intent on becoming a chemical engineer, he entered Peterhouse, Cambridge, on a merit scholarship and studied chemistry, physics, mathematics, and mineralogy. While at Cambridge, he met Professor John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, became interested in biochemistry, and changed his major to that subject. He received a B.S. degree in 1932 and became a researcher in the physical chemistry laboratory of...