Sam Ruben
Sam Ruben (born November 5, 1913 in San Francisco as Charles Rubenstein, † September 28, 1943 ) was an American chemist. He is known for synthesizing the long-lived carbon isotope C14 with Martin Kamen (1940).
The family changed the name Rubenstein to Ruben in 1930. Ruben boxed and played basketball in his youth ( Jack Dempsey was a neighbor). He studied chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley , where he received his doctorate in physical chemistry in 1938. Then he was there instructor and from 1941 assistant professor. In 1940, together with Martin Kamen, he succeeded in producing the C14 isotope at the cyclotron of the Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, with which they wanted to study the photosynthesis metabolism of plants. While they were less successful in explaining the carbon metabolism in photosynthesis, he was able to show in experiments with heavy water that the oxygen that is produced by plants during photosynthesis came from the water. In 1943, as part of the US war effort, he was investigating the poisonous gas phosgene and died after a laboratory accident involving phosgene. He inhaled the gas that had escaped from a broken ampoule and died the next day.
In 1949, Willard Frank Libby used C14 for radiocarbon dating.
He had been married since 1935 and had three children. His son George was a professor at Dartmouth College .
He should not be confused with the American inventor Samuel Ruben (1900–1988), founder of Duracell .
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ruben, Sam |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ruben, Samuel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American chemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 5, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | San Francisco |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 28, 1943 |