Last month, the U.S. Postal Service released a set of stamps honoring four American scientists. This is the third American Scientists stamp set.
This set honors chemist Melvin
Calvin, botanist Asa Gray, physicist Maria Goeppert Mayer, and
biochemist Severo Ochoa.
Melvin Calvin was the first scientist to trace in detail the
process of photosynthesis and conducted pioneering research on using
plants as an alternative energy source. He won the Nobel Prize in
chemistry in 1961.
Asa Gray, one of the first professional botanists in the United
States, advanced the specialized field of plant geography and became the
principal American advocate of evolutionary theory in the
mid-nineteenth century.
Maria Goeppert Mayer developed a theoretical model that helped
explain the structure of the atomic nucleus; for this work she became
the only woman other than Marie Curie to win a Nobel Prize in physics.
Severo Ochoa, a biochemist, was the first scientist to synthesize
ribonucleic acid (RNA) and competed in the race to decipher the genetic
code. Ochoa won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1959.
For each stamp in this block of four, art director Ethel Kessler
collaborated with Greg Berger of Bethesda, MD, to create a collage
featuring a photograph and signature of the scientist, along with items
such as equations and diagrams that are associated with the scientist’s
research.
For more information about the stamps, visit the
U.S.P.S. website story about the stamps.
