Calvin, Melvin, 1911–97, American organic chemist and educator, b. St. Paul, Minn., grad. Michigan College of Mining and Technology, 1931, Ph.D. Univ. of Minnesota, 1935. In 1937 he joined the faculty at the Univ. of California, where he became director (1946) of the bioorganic division of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (which became the Laboratory of Chemical Biodynamics in 1960) and professor (1947) of chemistry. For his work in determining the chemical reactions that occur when a plant assimilates carbon dioxide, Calvin was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His writings include The Photosynthesis of Carbon Compounds (with J. A. Bassham, 1962) and Chemical Evolution (1969).

Calvin, Melvin

(born April 8, 1911, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.—died Jan. 8, 1997, Berkeley, Calif.) U.S. biochemist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He developed a system of using the radioactive isotope carbon-14 as a tracer element in his studies of the green alga chlorella. By halting the plant's metabolism at various stages and measuring tiny amounts of radioactive compounds present, Calvin was able to identify most of the reactions involved in the intermediate steps of photosynthesis, for which he was awarded a 1961 Nobel Prize. His research also included work in radiation chemistry and the processes leading to the origin of life.

Calvin, Melvin (1911– ) organic chemist; born in St. Paul, Minn. He became a professor of chemistry at the University of California (1947–71) and head of its Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (1963–80). By combining the techniques of carbon-14 testing and paper chromatography, he traced the intermediate reactions in carbon dioxide assimilation and oxygen release in plants during photosynthesis. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry (1961) for this work.