- Archer John Porter Martin
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Archer John Porter Martin Born March 1, 1910
LondonDied July 28, 2002 (aged 92)Nationality United Kingdom Alma mater Peterhouse, Cambridge Known for Chromatography Notable awards Nobel Prize in Chemistry(1952)
John Price Wetherill Medal (1959)Archer John Porter Martin, FRS[1] (1 March 1910 in London –28 July 2002) was a British chemist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of partition chromatography with Richard Synge.
His father was a GP. Martin was educated at Bedford School and Cambridge University. Working first in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory, he moved to the Dunn Nutritional Laboratory, and in 1938 moved to Wool Industries Research Institution in Leeds. He was head of the Biochemistry Division of Boots Pure Drug Company from 1946 to 1948, when he joined the Medical Research Council. There, he was appointed Head of the Physical Chemistry Division of the National Institute for Medical Research in 1952 and was Chemical Consultant from 1956 to 1959.
He specialised in Biochemistry, in some aspects of Vitamins E and B2, and in techniques that laid the foundation for chromatography. He developed partition chromatography whilst working on the separation of amino acids, and later developed gas-liquid chromatography. Amongst many other honours, he received his Nobel Prize in 1952.
He published far fewer papers than the typical Nobel winners—only 70 in all—but his 9th paper won the Nobel. The University of Houston dropped him from its chemistry faculty in 1979 because he was not publishing enough.[2]
He was married, with two sons and three daughters. In the last years of his life he suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
Pop culture
Martin was mentioned in the animated television series The Simpsons in the episode titled "Flaming Moe's" (Season 3, Episode 10). Character Martin Prince made reference to Martin while doing a show-and-tell presentation on the gas chromatograph.
References
- ^ Lovelock, J. (2004). "Archer John Porter Martin CBE. 1 March 1910 -- 28 July 2002: Elected F.R.S. 1950". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 50: 157–170. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2004.0012. PMID 15754473.
- ^ See Obituary,New York Times Aug. 6, 2002
Nobel Laureates in Chemistry (1951–1975) - Edwin McMillan / Glenn T. Seaborg (1951)
- Archer Martin / Richard Synge (1952)
- Hermann Staudinger (1953)
- Linus Pauling (1954)
- Vincent du Vigneaud (1955)
- Cyril Hinshelwood / Nikolay Semyonov (1956)
- Alexander Todd (1957)
- Frederick Sanger (1958)
- Jaroslav Heyrovský (1959)
- Willard Libby (1960)
- Melvin Calvin (1961)
- Max Perutz / John Kendrew (1962)
- Karl Ziegler / Giulio Natta (1963)
- Dorothy Hodgkin (1964)
- Robert Woodward (1965)
- Robert S. Mulliken (1966)
- Manfred Eigen / Ronald Norrish / George Porter (1967)
- Lars Onsager (1968)
- Derek Barton / Odd Hassel (1969)
- Luis Federico Leloir (1970)
- Gerhard Herzberg (1971)
- Christian B. Anfinsen / Stanford Moore / William Stein (1972)
- E.O.Fischer / Geoffrey Wilkinson (1973)
- Paul Flory (1974)
- John Cornforth / Vladimir Prelog (1975)
- Complete list
- (1901–1925)
- (1926–1950)
- (1951–1975)
- (1976–2000)
- (2001–2025)
Categories:- 1910 births
- 2002 deaths
- Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
- English biochemists
- People from London
- Nobel laureates in Chemistry
- British Nobel laureates
- Old Bedfordians
- Fellows of the Royal Society
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