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Martin David Kamen (1913–2002): discoverer of carbon 14, and of new cytochromes in photosynthetic bacteria

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Abstract

Martin Kamen was a giant of twentieth century science. Trained as a physical chemist, he was the co-discoverer of radioactive Carbon 14, which has transformed many areas of science as a tracer and as a way to date artifacts. He later switched to the study of metabolism and biochemistry and made important contributions to the understanding of nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis. Finally, he studied cytochromes, primarily from anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Nancy Winchester for her encouragement and for editing an earlier version of this tribute (Govindjee and Blankenship 2018) to Martin Kamen which is available by writing to one of us (Govindjee) by email (gov@illinois.edu). We thank Rajni Govindjee (for helping us collect information on Kamen’s awards and his honorary degrees, and in reading its text before its submission); Teruo Ogawa (for help in locating the Kamen (1973) paper); Arthur Nonomura (for helpful suggestions); and David Kamen (for suggesting the use of the cover photo of Martin’s book as Figure 2).

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  1. University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Govindjee Govindjee

  2. Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, USA

    Robert E. Blankenship

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  1. Govindjee Govindjee
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Correspondence to Robert E. Blankenship.

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Govindjee, G., Blankenship, R.E. Martin David Kamen (1913–2002): discoverer of carbon 14, and of new cytochromes in photosynthetic bacteria. Photosynth Res 149, 265–273 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-021-00854-y

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