Melvin Ellis Calvin was a Jewish-American biochemist who was given the “Nobel Prize” in Chemistry in 1961 for his discovery of the “Calvin cycle,” which encompasses three light-independent phases of photosynthesis: carbon fixation, reduction processes, and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) regeneration. Calvin, along with American biologist Andrew Benson and American scientist James Bassham, achieved this discovery. During his roughly fifty-year career, the majority of which was spent at Berkeley’s ‘University of California,’ he conducted a number of investigations that provided notable discoveries in a wide range of biological and physical chemistry. Calvin’s investigations encompassed, among others, hydrogen activation; radiation chemistry; electronic structure of organic molecules; artificial photosynthesis; photoelectronic, electronic, and photochemical behavior of porphyrins; and chemical development of life. Using chelation and solvent extraction, he isolated and purified plutonium from other irradiated nuclear fission products of uranium while working on the ‘Manhattan Project’ Together, he and his wife Genevieve Jemtegaard studied chemical factors inherent in the Rh blood type system and helped determine the structure of one of the Rh antigens, which they dubbed elinin. He was awarded the ‘Davy Medal’ by the ‘Royal Society of London’ in 1964, the ‘Priestley Medal’ in 1978, and the ‘National Medal of Science’ by the United States (1989).
Youth and Early Life
He was born on April 8, 1911, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire, Elias Calvin, and Rose Herwitz.
His family moved to Detroit, Michigan when he was a little child. In 1928, he graduated from the “Central High School” in Detroit.
He studied geology, mineralogy, civil engineering, and paleontology at “Michigan College of Mining and Technology” (now “Michigan Technological University”) in Houghton after getting a full scholarship. All of these topics were incredibly valuable to his future scientific endeavors.
His studies were halted for a year by the Great Depression, during which he worked as an analyst in a brass manufacturer. In 1931, he received his Bachelor of Science from Michigan College of Mining and Technology.
In 1935, he submitted his dissertation on the electron affinity of halogen atoms to earn a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Minnesota.
After receiving a grant from the ‘Rockefeller Foundation,’ he pursued postdoctoral studies at the ‘University of Manchester. There, he studied metalloporphyrins, activation of molecular hydrogen, and coordination catalysis under the supervision of Professor Michael Polanyi.
Melvin Calvin’s Career
In 1937, he was hired as a professor at Berkeley’s ‘University of California’. The progression of his academic career was slow, beginning with his promotion to Full Professor in 1947 and then to Professor of Molecular Biology in 1963, a position he held until his retirement in 1980.
At Berkeley, he continued his research on the activation of molecular hydrogen that he had begun in Manchester. He also began studying the color of organic compounds, which led him to analyze the electrical structures of organic molecules.
In the early 1940s, while researching molecular genetics, he proposed the role of hydrogen bonding in the stacking of nucleic acid bases in the thread-like structures known as chromosomes, which are found in the nucleus of living organisms.
As the United States entered the ‘Second World War,’ Calvin began working for the ‘National Defense Research Council’ During the war, he conducted research on cobalt complexes that, through reverse bonding with oxygen, form an oxygen-producing device for destroyers or submarines.
His invention of a method to extract oxygen from atmospheres has proven to be extraordinarily useful for treating individuals with breathing issues.
Using chelation and solvent extraction, he separated and purified plutonium from uranium’s other radioactive nuclear fission products as part of his contribution to the Manhattan Project, the wartime research and development effort to produce atomic bombs.
In 1946, he became the founding director of the inter-disciplinary bio-organic chemistry group that was based at the time in the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. Thus, the old, decaying, wallless wooden house became his first open laboratory. Until his retirement in 1980, he also served as the Associate Director of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, where he conducted many of his key research projects.
The 1946 discovery that earned him the Nobel Prize involved clarifying how plants use sunshine and chlorophyll to transform water and carbon dioxide into the living molecule glucose.
Calvin and his colleagues James Bassham and Andrew Benson used the radioactive isotope carbon-14 to trace the whole path taken by the chemical element carbon during photosynthesis within a plant. They explained the tracer approach in “Isotopic Carbon” (1949).
They demonstrated that sunlight’s effect on a plant’s chlorophyll, not carbon dioxide as previously believed, stimulates the formation of organic molecules.
During his investigation, he floated chlorella in water, exposed it to light, and then added carbon dioxide with carbon-14. Paper chromatography, a new scientific tool, was used to detect the presence of carbon-14 in algae while they synthesized carbohydrates from water, carbon dioxide, and minerals.
Consequently, it became possible to identify the molecules containing radioactive carbon at various stages of photosynthesis. The books ‘The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis’ (1957) and ‘The Photosynthesis of Carbon Compounds (1958) discuss these observations (1962).
As the bioorganic group of Calvin required more space, the ‘Laboratory of Chemical Biodynamics’ was established in the early 1960s on the Berkeley campus of the ‘University of California’. This round edifice, referred to as the ‘Roundhouse’ or ‘Calvin Carousel’, was designed by Calvin and embodies his vision.
He served as the facility’s director until his retirement in 1980, after which the lab was renamed the Melvin Calvin Laboratory. He continued to work in his office with a small team of researchers until 1996 after his retirement.
He served as President of the American Society of Plant Physiologists from 1963 to 1964.
In 1964, the “Dow Chemical Company” appointed him to its board of directors. He served on numerous scientific boards for the US government, including the President’s “Science Advisory Committee” for both President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson.
He was elected president of the American Chemical Society in 1971.
He belonged to both the Royal Society of London and the National Academy of Sciences.
Oxford University, University of Nottingham, Northwestern University, and Michigan College of Mining and Technology awarded Calvin honorary Doctor of Science degrees.
The American Chemical Society released his autobiography, Following the Trail of Light: A Scientific Odyssey, in May 1992.
He had authored more than 600 papers and seven books.
Awards & Achievements
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1961.
Personal History and Legacy
In 1942, he wed Marie Genevieve Jemtegaard, and they were blessed with three children: Karole, Elin, and Noel.
On January 8, 1997, at the age of 86, he passed away in Berkeley, California, United States.
Estimated Net Worth
Melvin is one of the wealthiest and most well-known chemists. According to our research, Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider, Melvin Calvin has an estimated net worth of $1.5 million.