Joan Oró Florensa: centenary of a universal scientist
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/arbor.2024.811.2625Keywords:
Joan Oró Florensa, United States, Viking, Spanish scientific exile, Apollo 11Abstract
Joan Oró Florensa (1923-2004), while being a prominent 20th century scientist, is one of the most unknown and forgotten figures in the historiography of contemporary science. His outstanding role in the first investigations into the origin of life, in the biochemical analyses of the lunar samples collected on the Apollo 11 mission, as well as his decisive participation in the biological experiments of the Viking mission – among other important contributions – highly deserve the beginning of historical studies that address and analyse in detail some of the dimensions of this polyhedral figure. This article, which analyses his figure and contributions in the historical and scientific context in which they were developed and uses the unpublished archive of Joan Oró, seeks to commemorate him on the centenary of his birth (2023) and contribute to historiographic studies on this Spanish biochemist.
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Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte
Grant numbers FPU20/01748
