Meteoritics & Planetary Science 44, Nr 8, 1161–1177 (2009) Abstract available online at http://meteoritics.org Stuart H. Perry’s contributions to meteorite collection and research, 1927–1957 H. PLOTKIN1* and R. S. CLARKE JR.2 1Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London ON, N6A 3K7, Canada 2Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington D.C., 20013–7012, USA *Corresponding author: E-mail:
[email protected] (Received 23 April 2008; revision accepted 14 June 2009) Abstract–Stuart H. Perry (1874–1957), an influential Michigan newspaper editor and publisher and a vice president of the Associated Press, developed a passionate interest in collecting and studying meteorites in the 1920s and 1930s. Firmly believing that meteorites belong in great museums where they can be properly investigated, he generously donated his meteorites to various museums after he finished his own study of them. He had a sincere interest in the National Collection of Meteorites, and donated 192 specimens—mostly irons—to the U.S. National Museum; these constituted some of the most important meteorites in its collection, and moved iron meteorites to center stage, a position still occupied. By applying current metallographic methods to the study of iron meteorites, Perry directed scientists to a powerful new research tool, which led to major advances in our understanding of meteoritic irons and helped give rise to a new field within planetary sciences. His groundbreaking monograph The metallography of meteoric iron served as a standard reference collection of metallographic photomicrographs of iron meteorites for more than 30 years.