Brian Harold Mason

Brian Harold Mason ( born April 18, 1917 in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, New Zealand, † December 3, 2009 in Chevy Chase, Washington, DC) ) was a pioneer of meteorite research. He played a leading role in understanding the nature of the solar system through his studies of lunar rocks and meteorites. He examined and classified thousands of meteorites that have been collected in Antarctica.

Life and work

Mason grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand, on. He studied geology and chemistry at Canterbury University College. In 1943 he received his doctorate in Victor Moritz Goldschmidt Geochemistry at the University of Stockholm.

Mason, the curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and at the National Museum of Natural History was the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, along with Carleton B. Moore wrote a classic textbook of geochemistry, which was published in 1952 and appeared in four editions. More releases followed ( S.U. ).

After Mason two minerals were named: Brianit, a phosphate mineral stone meteorites, and Stenhuggarit ( after the Swedish word for Stenhuggar Mason), a rare iron -antimony mineral. Was also an asteroid named after him, ( 12926 ) Brian Mason, who were discovered on 27 September 1999 by astronomers Joel L. ship and Christine J. ship.

Mason also received the 1972 Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society and 1993, the Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America.

Works

• Brian Harold Mason, Carleton B. Moore: Principles of Geochemistry. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1985 ( Original title: Principles of geochemistry, translated by Gerd Hintermaier -Erhard ), ISBN 9783432946115 (. Translation of the 4th edition of the original English edition, English edition was 1952).
• Leonard G. Berry, Brian Harold Mason: Mineralogy: Concepts, descriptions, Determinations. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco 1959.
• Brian Harold Mason: Meteorites. In: Science. Vol 138 no 3543, Wiley, New York November 23, 1962, ISSN 0036-8075, pp. 887-888.
• Leonard G. Berry, Brian Harold Mason: Elements of mineralogy. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco 1968.
• Brian Harold Mason: Handbook of Elemental abundances in Meteorites. Gordon and Breach, New York 1971.
• Brian Harold Mason: Meteorites. In: Data of Geochemistry. 6th edition. United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1979, Chapter B. Cosmo Chemistry, pp. B1- B132.
• Brian Harold Mason, Simon Nathan: From Mountains to Meteorites. Geoscience Society of New Zealand, Wellington 2001 ( Autobiographical work ).