Melvin Calvin : Nobel-Winning chemist and SETI scientist wannabe

Melvin Calvin spent more than a decade answering one longstanding question in biochemistry: how did plants use carbon dioxide to manufacture carbohydrates in photosynthesis? This research earned Calvin a Nobel Prize-an honor that catapulted him to international fame, secured him spots on presidential advisory committees, and got him plenty of textbook mentions. But even though Calvin's claim to fame was his work on photosynthesis, his longestrunning passion project was investigating the origins of life in the universe. Astrobiology efforts peppered his career, from theorizing about chemical evolution to inspecting meteorites and moon rocks to joining the Order of the Dolphin at the first Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) conference in 1961.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Graduate Program in Science Writing

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Temming, Maria C

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Marcia Bartusiak.

• Comparative Media Studies.
• Graduate Program in Science Writing.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112626

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/112626