EP 46 · 1:21:35

Atomic clocks and Calvin cycle

From America 250: The Breakthroughs That Built American Science — Part 1

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In this chapter

Norman Ramsey's 1949 separated oscillatory fields method used quantum interference to precisely compare two frequencies, laying groundwork for atomic clocks and later high precision laser work, earning him the 1989 Nobel Prize in physics. In 1950, Melvin Calvin at UC Berkeley used radioactive carbon-14 to trace the chemical pathway plants use to fix carbon during photosynthesis, now called the Calvin cycle, winning the 1961 Nobel Prize in chemistry. In 1951, Linus Pauling with Robert Corey and Herman Branson at Caltech worked out the alpha helix and beta pleated sheet, the structural building blocks found in nearly all proteins.

  1. 01

    Ramsey developed his method at Harvard University.

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    Pauling had already won a prior Nobel Prize before this protein structure work.

Transcript

232 words · auto-generated from the episode video

1:21:35>> 1949, we're almost out of the 40s. Invention of the Ramsy's inter uh interferometer. Uh, excuse me, invention of Ramsay's interferometry. Yes, this is um Norman Ramsey. He invented the separate oscilly fields method at Harvard University. um he's utilizing quantum interference to really take two separate frequencies and really resolve the difference between them. This is instrumental for things like atomic clocks later on and all of the high precision laser stuff that we're going to get to later on. He won the 1989 Nobel Prize in physics for this >> 1950 elucidation of the Calvin cycle.

1:22:17>> Yes. How do plants create carbohydrates? from light. That's the big idea, right? Melvin Calvin at the University of California in Berkeley, he mapped the chemical pathway of carbon fixation during photosynthesis. This was huge. He used um radioactive carbon 14 for this and he won the 1961 Nobel Prize in chemistry. And now we know how plants do photosynthesis. >> Again, building on previous discoveries. 1951 discovery of the alpha helix and beta sheet. Lionus powing back on the board. >> Back on the board again. He had already won the Nobel Prize. Yes. Right. And now

1:22:58him with Cory and Herman Bryansen, they determined the alpha helix and the beta pleated sheets which are structures that create almost all proteins. This was at Caltech again. um he showed exactly how

From the episode
  1. EP 46

    America 250: The Breakthroughs That Built American Science — Part 1

    Part one of our America 250 special traces the inventions, institutions, and scientific breakthroughs — from Franklin to Sputnik — that helped build the United States into a global scientific power.

    America 250: The Breakthroughs That Built American Science — Part 1

America 250History of Science