CHEMIST

Martin Kamen

1913 - 2002

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Icon of person Martin Kamen

Martin David Kamen (August 27, 1913, Toronto – August 31, 2002, Montecito, California) was an American chemist who, together with Sam Ruben, co-discovered the synthesis of the isotope carbon-14 on February 27, 1940, at the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Berkeley. He also confirmed that all of the oxygen released in photosynthesis comes from water, not carbon dioxide, in 1941. Kamen was the first to use carbon-14 to study a biochemical system, and his work revolutionized biochemistry and molecular biology, enabling scientists to trace a wide variety of biological reactions and processes. Despite being blacklisted for nearly a decade on suspicion of being a security risk, Kamen went on to receive the Albert Einstein World Award of Science in 1989, and the U.S. Department of Energy's 1995 Enrico Fermi award for lifetime scientific achievement. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Martin Kamen is the 573rd most popular chemist (down from 551st in 2019), the 642nd most popular biography from Canada (down from 537th in 2019) and the 6th most popular Canadian Chemist.

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Among CHEMISTS

Among chemists, Martin Kamen ranks 573 out of 602. Before him are Achim Müller, F. Albert Cotton, Mildred Cohn, Carol V. Robinson, Sergey Lebedev, and Faiza Al-Kharafi. After him are Jiří Drahoš, Ira Remsen, Gilbert Stork, Benjamin Silliman, Rachel Fuller Brown, and John George Children.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1913, Martin Kamen ranks 371. Before him are Jean Capelle, Mildred Cohn, István Klimek, Ed Czerkiewicz, Sammy Cahn, and John N. Mitchell. After him are William Inge, Melvin Frank, Mari Gerekmezyan, Norman Dello Joio, Heinrich Keimig, and Eleanor Holm. Among people deceased in 2002, Martin Kamen ranks 310. Before him are Sylvia Rivera, Joyce Cooper, Lev Kulidzhanov, Jürgen Werner, Marga Petersen, and Davey Boy Smith. After him are Pierre Rapsat, Stanley Wagner, Daniel Pearl, Renato Pirocchi, Jonathan Harris, and Johnny Unitas.

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In Canada

Among people born in Canada, Martin Kamen ranks 642 out of 1,622. Before him are James Arthur (1944), Hayley Wickenheiser (1978), Anne Dorval (1960), Ross Cuthbert (1892), Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin (1849), and Guy Delisle (1966). After him are Ken Kirzinger (1959), John Porter (1904), Frank Amyot (1904), Suzanne Clément (1969), George Cloutier (1876), and Ken Dryden (1947).

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Among CHEMISTS In Canada

Among chemists born in Canada, Martin Kamen ranks 6. Before him are William Giauque (1895), Sidney Altman (1939), Henry Taube (1915), Rudolph A. Marcus (1923), and Maud Menten (1879).

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