Geoffrey Eglinton (1927–2016) Pioneer of Molecular-Fossil Research

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COMMENT OBITUARY Geoffrey Eglinton (1927–2016) Pioneer of molecular-fossil research.

eoffrey Eglinton was curious about organic geochemists of the day. The the history of molecules. He followed analytical detective work on the Moon

their passage from living organisms rocks required extreme cleanliness to avoid ALICE CAVE Ginto soils and sediments, and tracked their contamination. So clean were the research- geological fate in sedimentary rocks and fos- ers’ methods that they found minute traces sil fuels. His exploration of the natural his- of carbon from the solar wind blasted into tory of biochemicals and their geochemical lunar minerals. The work earned Eglinton remnants established the modern field of the NASA Gold Medal for Exceptional Sci- organic geochemistry. In 1969, he analysed entific Achievement and further elevated the Moon rocks collected by Neil Armstrong growing field of organic geochemistry. and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11. In 1967, Eglinton moved from Glasgow Eglinton, who died on 11 March, was to the University of Bristol, where, with his born in Cardiff, UK, in 1927. He studied friend and colleague James Maxwell, he chemistry at the University of Manchester, established the Organic Geochemistry Unit from where he earned three degrees: a BSc (OGU). The OGU quickly became a global in 1948, a PhD in 1951 and a DSc (a doctor- centre of excellence in organic geochemis- ate of science) in 1966. He worked for two try. Generations of students and postdocs years as a postdoctoral researcher at Ohio studied fossil molecules there, which they State University in Columbus and then used to study life in and trace the tempera- returned to the United Kingdom as an Impe- ture of ancient oceans, and to probe oil rial Chemical Industries (ICI) fellow at the transformation in geological basins. University of Liverpool. In 1954, he became Geoffrey, whom I knew professionally and a lecturer at the University of Glasgow. through friendship with his family, always Eglinton’s original training was in Eglinton’s pioneering work elegantly paid the highest compliment to young scien- synthetic chemistry. His early accomplish- wove together chemistry, biochemistry and tists: he listened intently to their ideas. After ments included devising a new way to form botany, and culminated in a comprehensive retiring from Bristol in 1993, he continued to carbon–carbon bonds by joining two com- paper published in 1967 in Science on leaf work as an emeritus professor and through pounds, each of which contained a carbon waxes, which is still a defining document adjunct appointments with various institu- triple bond — a process now known as the in the field and Eglinton’s most cited work tions, including the Swiss Federal Institute Eglinton reaction. (G. Eglinton and R. J. Hamilton Science 156, of Technology in Zurich, where he often col- His shift towards the chemistry of natural 1322–1335; 1967). He studied the geochem- laborated with his son, Timothy, a professor products, and ultimately to geochemistry, fol- istry of plant waxes for the rest of his career of biogeoscience and contemporary of mine. lowed the arrival of a new analytical tool in the and well into his retirement. Indeed, his Geoffrey published more than 500 papers early 1950s: gas chromatography. The tech- prescient admiration for plants’ persistent and received numerous honours, including nique, which separates compounds carried by waxes laid the foundation for their wide use being elected fellow of the Royal Society in a gas along a liquid surface in a narrow col- today as palaeoclimate signatures. London. His greatest reward was the work umn, proved invaluable to untangling com- In 1963, Eglinton began seeking molecules itself and his many collaborations with those plex mixtures of natural organic compounds. from the earliest life on Earth, in collabora- who shared his passion. His joy in the rich Eglinton was the first to use gas-chromatog- tion with the biochemist and Nobel laureate world of molecular fossils radiates from the raphy separation in the analysis of chemicals Melvin Calvin. Eglinton used his analytical pages of a 2008 book that he co-authored with called terpenoid lipids, which are found in expertise to search for biologically derived Susan Gaines and Jurgen Rullkotter, Echoes of plants as well as in ancient sediments. Soon, organic molecules in sedimentary rocks Life (Oxford University Press), which chroni- he became interested in the waxy lipids that that were more than a billion years old. His cles the science and the scientists that helped cover the surfaces, or cuticles, of leaves, and work with Calvin revealed that early life had him to build the field of organic geochemistry. began to determine their distributions. a biochemistry that was fundamentally simi- Geoffrey was beloved by his wife of more Waxes protect leaves from water loss and lar to that of modern cells. The discovery of than 60 years, Pam, his children, grand- from insects and fungi. During the late 1950s, the startling antiquity of chemical remains children and friends — and by his global Eglinton became fascinated with plant-wax from ancient cells sparked people’s imagina- scientific family working in the discipline compounds, which persist in soils, sediments, tions, and helped to introduce the concept of that he founded. ■ rocks and petroleum. In 1960, he took his ‘molecular fossils’ to a broad audience. young family to the University of La Laguna During the mid-1960s, Eglinton’s exquisite Katherine H. Freeman is a distinguished in Tenerife, Spain, for a sun-filled sabbatical. studies attracted the interest of researchers professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania He wanted to discover whether different plant at NASA. They recognized that the ancient State University, University Park, taxa have characteristic patterns of long-chain molecular fossils were definitive biosigna- Pennsylvania, USA. She knew and admired cuticular lipids; if they did, he knew that the tures and that organic geochemistry would Geoffrey Eglinton for nearly 30 years, as a compounds would be of enormous value in be highly useful in studies of lunar samples. colleague and friend. reconstructing the ecosystems of the past. Eglinton’s team included the leading e-mail: [email protected]