Important Geoscientists
References
Dott, R. H. Jr., and D. R. Prothero, Evolution of the Earth, New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 569 pp., 1994.
Gohau, Gabriel, A History of Geology, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 259 pp., 1990.
Hallam, A., Great Geological Controversies, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 244 pp., 1983.
Rudwick, M. J. S., The Great Devonian Controversy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 494 pp., 1985.
G. B. Airy
- Surveyor
- Formed the Airy theory of isostasy (see also Pratt)
- In 1855, suggested that higher elevations are caused by
different crustal thicknesses.
In his theory, the crust has the same density, so higher elevations
are compensated at deeper depths than lower elevations, similar
to floating logs or ice.
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Florence Bascom
- Second woman to earn Ph.D. in Geology, Johns Hopkins, 1893 (Mary Holmes was first, University of Michigan, 1888)
- First woman hired by the U.S. Geological Survey (1896)
- Bryn Mawr College faculty
- Crystallography, mineralogy, and petrography
- A brief biography is in GSA Today, 7, 7, 8-9, 1997.
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Norman L. Bowen
- Experimental Petrologist
- Greatest petrologist of the 20th century
- The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks, 1928.
- A brief biography is in GSA Today, 8, 5, 10-11, 1998.
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S. Warren Carey
- One of the last major proponents of an expanding Earth, after the
acceptance of plate tectonics. This concept was developed parallel to
Plate tectonics, but came to disfavor.
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James D. Dana
- A brief biography is in GSA Today, 13, 2, 20-21, February, 2003.
- Manual of Mineralogy, 1848.
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Charles R. Darwin
- Developed the theory of evolution and natural selection
- Origin of Species in 1859
- A brief biography is in GSA Today, 6, 12, 8-10, 1996.
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Clarence E. Dutton
- Helped explore the west along with John Wesley Powell.
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W. Maurice Ewing
- Marine Geophysicist
- A brief biography in The Leading Edge, 4, 15-20, 1991.
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G. Karl Gilbert
- Mapped the Henry's Mountains, amoung other important achievements.
- A brief biography is in GSA Today, 8, 2, 16-17, 1998.
- Gilbert's contributions are discussed in Yochelson, E. L., (ed.),
The scientific ideas of G. K. Gilbert, GSA Special Paper 183, 148 pp., 1980.
- President of GSA (1892 and 1909)
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Jean Etienne Guettard
- French Geologist
- First person to make a geologic map.
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James Hutton
- Scottish Geologist
- Wrote The Theory of the Earth in 1785
- Emphasized the principle of uniformitarianism
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Sir Harold Jeffreys
- English Seismologist
- Wrote The Earth
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Lord Kelvin (William Thompson)
- British mathemetician and physicist
- Believed Earth was 40 to 20 million years old
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Clarence King
- Surveyed the 40th parallel
- First Director of the U. S. Geological Survey (?-1881)
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Charles Lyell
- Scottish Geologist
- Wrote Principles of Geology in 1830, an early, classic geology text.
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Kirtley F. Mather
- Socially active scientist
- A brief biography is in GSA Today, 6, 7, 8-10, 1996.
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Milutin Milankovitch
- Yugoslavian geophysicist
- During the 1920's to 1930's, determined that the cyclic nature of glacial/interglacial
periods is driven by astronomical cycles:
- Ellipticity of Earth's orbit around Sun,
- Precession of the equinoxes, and
- Earth wobbles slightly on its axis of rotation (Chandler wobble).
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Mohorovicic
- Yugoslavian seismologist
- Discovered the Mohorovicic discontinuity in 1909. The Moho separates
crustal rocks with P-wave velocities of 6 to 7 km/s from underlying mantle
rocks with P-wave velocities greater than 8 km/s
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John Wesley Powell
- Lead expidition to map the Colorado River and Grand Canyon.
- Second Director of the U. S. Geological Society (1881-1894).
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J. H. Pratt
- Surveyor
- Formed the Pratt theory of isostasy (see also Airy)
- Suggested in 1854 that the higher parts of the crust were elevated
because of their lower densities. Contrary to Airy, the crust was compensated
at the same depth.
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Charles F. Richter
- Seismologist
- Inventor of the Richter scale
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Nicolaus Steno
- Danish scientist
- Principle of Superposition in 1669
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Edward Suess
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Archbishop Ussher
- Irish Archbishop
- In 1664, stated that the Earth was created at 9:00 AM, October 26, 4004 BC.
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Charles D. Walcott
- Paleontologist/Biostratigrapher
- Third Director of the U.S.G.S. (1894-1907)
- Fourth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1907-1916)
- President of the National Academy of Sciences (1916-1922)
- A brief biography is in GSA Today, 6, 1, 8-9, 1996.
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Walther
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Alfred Wegener
- Meteorologist
- Father of Continental Drift, which led eventually to plate tectonics (see also J. Tuzo Wilson)
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J. Tuzo Wilson
- Developed the concept of the mountain building cycle, the Wilson cycle.
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William P. Clement
© William P. Clement 2000