Figure 23.—Melvin Calvin (b. 1911) received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1961 for his research in photosynthesis, in which he specified the function of phosphoglyceric acid as an intermediate in the synthesis of carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water by green plants.
The story of phosphorus, which began 300 years ago, has acquired new importance in this century. Many scientists have contributed to it: 13 of them have received Nobel Prizes for work directly bearing on the chemical and biological importance of phosphorus compounds. In chronological order, they are: Eduard Buchner, Albrecht Kossel, Otto Meyerhof, Arthur Harden, Hans von Euler-Chelpin, George de Hevesy, Carl F. Cori, Gerty T. Cori, Fritz Lipmann, Lord Alexander Todd, Arthur Kornberg, Severo Ochoa, and Melvin Calvin. The developers of industrial production and commercial utilization of phosphate compounds have had other rewards.
Some impression of the continuing growth in this field[43] can be gained from the following data.
Phosphate Rock
annually “sold or used by producer” in the United States in million long tons (2,240 lbs.)
| 1880 | 0.2 |
| 1890 | 0.5 |
| 1900 | 1.5 |
| 1910 | 2.655 |
| 1920 | 4.104 |
| 1930 | 3.926 |
| 1940 | 4.003 |
| 1945 | 5.807 |
| 1950 | 11.114 |
| 1955 | 12.265 |
| 1955 | (world: about 56) |
| 1960 | 17.202 |
| 1962 | 19.060 |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Historical Statistics of the United States 1789-1945 (1949); Statistical Abstract of the United States.
Elemental Phosphorus
annually produced in the United States in short tons (2,000 lbs.)
| 1939 | 43,000 |
| 1944 | 85,679 |
| 1950 | 153,233 |
| 1956 | 312,200 |
| 1958 | 335,750 |
| 1959 | 366,350 |
| 1960 | 409,096 |
| 1961 | 430,617 |
| 1962 | 451,970 |
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce.