David J. Stevenson

David J. Stevenson ( born September 2, 1948 in New Zealand) is a New Zealand planetary scientist.

Life and achievements

Stevenson graduated in 1972, the Victoria University in New Zealand. He received his Ph.D. in 1976 at Cornell University.

Stevenson is Professor of Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech ) in the U.S.. He made numerous contributions to the physics of planets and large moons, especially for the formation and evolution of the Moon, the thermal evolution of Mars, the nucleation and dynamo theory of planets, the dynamics of oceans on the moons of Jupiter and the dynamics of melting in the interior of the earth.

In 2003 he gained through an article in Nature attention, in which he proposed a method for exploring the Earth's interior, with which one could ( in contrast to conventional deep drilling ) reach a very large depth. After a large amount of molten iron would decrease due to its high temperature and density to the Earth's core and thereby carry a probe.

Stevenson was awarded the Harold C. Urey Prize of the American Astronomical Society in 1984. He is a member of the Royal Society. The asteroid ( 5211 ) Stevenson is named after him.