Stanley Miller

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Stanley Lloyd Miller (born March 7, 1930) is an American chemist and biologist who was born in Oakland, California. He was educated at University of California (obtaining his B.S. in 1951) and then at University of Chicago (where he received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1954). While at Chicago, Miller was a student of Harold Urey.

After graduation Miller continued his research at California Institute of Technology (1954-1955) and then joined the department of biochemistry at Columbia University, New York where he worked for the next five years. He then returned to California where he was an assistant professor (1960-1962), associate professor (1962-1968), then full professor of chemistry at University of California, San Diego (from 1968).

His research deals with the origin of life (and he is considered a pioneer in the field of exobiology), the natural occurrence of clathrate hydrates, and general mechanisms of anesthesia. He is a member of the National Academy of Science, and received the Oparin Medal. He was a participant in the pioneering Miller-Urey experiment. In the 1950s, Urey theorized that the early atmosphere of the Earth was probably like the atmosphere now present on Jupiter --i.e., rich in ammonia, methane, and hydrogen. Miller, working in his laboratory at the University of Chicago, demonstrated that when exposed to an energy source such as ultraviolet radiation, these compounds and water can react to produce amino acids essential for the formation of living matter. However, the early atmosphere of the Earth is no longer believed to have had this composition.