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Archer John Porter Martin, FRS (1 March 1910 – 28 July 2002) was an English chemist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of partition chromatography with Richard Synge.
Early life
Martin's father was a GP. Martin was educated at Bedford School, and the University of Cambridge.
Career
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 several new types of chromatography. He developed partition chromatography whilst working on the separation of amino acids, and later developed gas-liquid chromatography. Amongst many honours, he received his Nobel Prize in 1952.
He published far fewer papers than the typical Nobel winners—only 70 in all—but his ninth paper won the Nobel. The University of Houston dropped him from its chemistry faculty in 1979 (when he was 69 years old) because he was not publishing enough.
Personal life
In 1943 he married Judith Bagenal, and together they had two sons and three daughters. In the last years of his life he suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
In popular 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.