Melvin Calvin

Melvin Calvin (1911-) is an American chemist who won the 1961 Nobel Prize for chemistry for explaining how photosynthesis works. Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants use the energy of sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen. Calvin discovered the chemical reaction cycles, or biosynthetic pathways, involved in photosynthesis, which now bear his name the Calvin cycle.

Calvin taught chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley. There he conducted research in organometallic chemistry, the chemical processes associated with the origins of life. In addition, Calvin explored some unusual applications of chemistry, such as whether it would be possible to use oil-bearing plants as an alternative energy source.