Gerald J. Wasserburg

Gerald Joseph Wasserburg ( born March 25, 1927 in New Brunswick) is an American geologist, geophysicist and geochemist.

Wasserburg studied at the University of Chicago with a bachelor 's degree in 1951, her Master's degree in 1952 and his doctorate iin Geology 1954. 1955 he was Assistant Professor, in 1959 Associate Professor and in 1963 professor of geology and geophysics at the California Institute of Technology ( Caltech ). In 1982, he was there and he was MacArthur Professor 1987-1989 Executive Board of the Faculty of Geology and Planetary Sciences of Caltech. In 2001 he retired.

Along with Claude Allègre 1986, he was awarded the Crafoord Prize. In 1985 he received the Wollaston medal in 1991 and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.

He dealt with geochemical and isotopic methods for age determination and study of the geological evolution of the Earth and the solar system ( dating of meteorites ). He also studied time scales for the transport of isotopes in Grundwassder.

He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Brussels, Paris University, Arizona State University, the University of Chicago, the University of Turin and the University of Rennes I. He is an honorary member of the Geological Society of London ( 1996).

In 1978 he received the VM Goldschmidt Medal of the Geochemical Society, 1970, the Arthur L. Day Medal of the Geological Society of America, 1981 Arthur L. Day Prize of the National Academy of Science, 1985, Harry Hess Medal of the American Geophysical Union. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Literature.

Writings

• Isotopic adventure- geology, planetological and cosmic, Annual Review Earth Planetary Science, Volume 31, 2003, pp. 1-74