Wasserburg, Gerald J. (Gerald Joseph), 1927- (Geologist, Geophysicist)
Dates
- Existence: 1927 - 2016
Biographical/Historical
Background: Caltech Professor of Geology and Geophysics, 1955-2001; Chairman, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, 1987-1989; Executive Officer for Geochemistry, 1987-1989; Professor Emeritus 2002-.
Biographical/Historical
Description: GERALD JOSEPH WASSERBURG was born March 25, 1927, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He entered the University of Chicago in 1948 with a major first in geology, then in physics. He earned his PhD from Chicago in 1954 with a thesis on potassium-argon dating under Harold C. Urey and Mark Inghram. He joined the Caltech faculty in 1955 and was named full professor in 1962 and John D. MacArthur Professor of Geology and Geophysics in 1982.
Wasserburg's research interests are geochemistry, geophysics, and astrophysics. He developed ultra-high precision and high sensitivity mass spectrometric and chemical techniques to study the origins and history of the solar system and its component bodies. He designed the first digital output with magnet switching and online processing computer-controlled mass spectrometer, which he named "Lunatic I," at the same time denominating his laboratory at Caltech The Lunatic Asylum. His work established a time scale for the development of the early solar system including the end of the process of nucleosynthesis and the formation of solid objects such as planets, the moons, and meteorites about 4500 million years ago. Wasserburg is widely acknowledged for his isotope studies of lunar materials collected by NASA's Apollo missions and his involvement in US space research programs. Among his many honors and awards is the Crafoord Prize, 1986.
Biographical/Historical
Collection Notes: Papers, mixed media.
Collection size: 85 linear ft.
Collection guide online at OAC.
Found in 22 Collections and/or Records:
Caricature of Mad Tea Party in Lunatic Asylum
Gerald J. Wasserburg Oral History Interview with David A. Valone
Gerald J. Wasserburg Oral History Interview with David A. Valone, 1995-03-25 - 1995-05-17
Gerald J. Wasserburg Papers 1927-2011
Satirical drawing of Professor Wasserburg's lab and mass spectrometer
Satirical seal for the Lunar Sample Analysis Planning Team
Short-Lived Nuclei in the Early Solar system, Nucleosynthesis and Chemical Evolution Since the Big Bang
The Evolution of Heavy Elements Since the Big Bang
Gerald J. Wasserburg Papers
Additional filters:
- Type
- Unprocessed Material 17
- Archival Object 2
- Digital Record 2
- Collection 1
- Subject
- Geology 13
- Geophysics 4
- Crafoord Prize 3
- Fine Art 3
- Conferences 2
- Film & Video 2
- Lecture 2
- Manuscript Collection 2
- Physics 2
- Watson Lecture 2
- Astronautics and state--United States 1
- Caltech Y 1
- Dinner 1
- Frontiers Of Science 1
- Geochemistry 1
- Geochemists 1
- Geologists 1
- Geophysicists 1
- Isotope geology 1
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory 1 + ∧ less