Melvin Calvin.

American Biochemist
1911-1997

Melvin Calvin was a biochemist whose prolific career included fundamental work on the biochemistry of photosynthesis. His work led to a Nobel Prize and had Time magazine calling him "Mr. Photosynthesis."

Calvin was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 8, 1911, of immigrant parents. The family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Calvin graduated from high school in 1927. He graduated from the Michigan College of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University) as its first chemistry major in 1931. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1935. He worked two years at Manchester University with British chemist and philosopher Michael Polanyi (1875-1946), who introduced him to the multidisciplinary approach that later characterized his own scientific career.

In 1937 Calvin became an instructor at the University of California at Berkeley and remained there for the rest of his career. He eventually became a...