Roger Revelle

Roger Revelle ( born March 7, 1909 in Seattle, Washington; † July 15, 1991 in San Diego, California ) was an American oceanographer and climatologist. He was one of the first scientists to significant research on the increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the dangers that can bring for the future of humanity, undertook.

Academic Career

Roger Revelle grew up in Pasadena (California ), studied at Pomona College in Claremont (California ) Geology and graduated in 1929 with a Bachelor of Arts. Since 1931 he worked at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and 1936 he was Ph.D. ( Philosophiae Doctor ) in the subject Oceanography at the University of California, Berkeley. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy, after which he was 1946-48 Head of the geophysical department in the Office of Naval Research. From 1950-64 he was back at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography as a professor of oceanography. Since 1954, he became politically active in order to advance the establishment of the University of California, San Diego, in 1959 began construction of the university. Revelle was able to bind respected scientists in this University, he was also hoping the hitherto customary separation of the sciences from the humanities and social sciences to overcome.

In 1964 he moved to Harvard University, where he was professor of population policy and director of the Center for Population Studies. In 1976, he retired and lived until his death in 1991 in La Jolla in San Diego.

In 1986 he was awarded the Balzan Prize for his contributions to oceanography and climatology. In his honor, was named a research ship that the U.S. Navy is heard and for various research activities.