Biography of Edward Irving BIOGRAPHY

Biography of Edward Irving BIOGRAPHY he latitude lines plastered across atlases and globes are not the rigid demarcations they appear to be. Over millions of Tyears, continents have moved relative to the Earth’s magnetic field, a phenome- non recorded by the magnetization of rocks. Edward Irving, a geologist and emeritus scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada, has been reading the history of latitude variations for more than 50 years. His studies of paleomagnetism provided the first physical evi- dence of the theory of continental drift (1). In his Inaugural Article (2), published on page 1821 of this issue of PNAS, Irving reviews the areas of research that have informed our knowledge of Earth’s history and how the planet’s mountain belts, climate, and life have evolved. From Dinosaurs to Rocks GEOLOGY Irving, elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998, was born in 1927 Edward Irving (center) with colleagues Judith Baker and Randy Enkin. and grew up in the Pennine Hills of northeast Lancashire, England. Like After a year, Runcorn encouraged him signed by Nobel Laureate Lord Patrick many boys, he was fascinated with dino- to enter the graduate program in geo- Maynard Stuart Blackett. ‘‘It was very saurs at a young age. He remembers physics, which Irving initially had shied simple in design, yet sophisticated,’’ says studying pictures of the ‘‘strange crea- away from. ‘‘I always had a desire to do Irving. ‘‘It could be built by geologists tures’’ in his family’s books and at the research; I just thought I’d never make like me. You didn’t need to know elec- library. Outdoor activities, such as fossil it,’’ he explains. Irving began studying tronics.’’ He found that magnetic field finding and plant exploration, also fu- the history of the Earth’s magnetic field, directions indicated by the Precambrian rock in the Torridonian Sandstone Se- eled his interest in science early in life. an area of research that remains his aca- ‘‘The hilly countryside lent itself to an ries of the highlands of Scotland did not demic focus. ‘‘What we knew directly of inquisitive child,’’ he says. After finish- agree with the present magnetic field. the Earth’s magnetic field went only a ing grammar school in 1945, Irving was This ‘‘huge’’ discrepancy extended over few hundred years back in observatory conscripted into the British Army where a period of tens of million of years and records,’’ he says. There had been a he had ‘‘three years to think about could be explained only by the shifting ‘‘sporadic and somewhat chaotic effort’’ things’’ and where ‘‘[the army] tried to of Scotland relative to the pole (3, 4). To recreate the historical latitude, Irv- make an officer of me.’’ Instead, Irving to use rocks to discern the history far- ther back, but the research area that ing studied sequences of rock 3 km volunteered to travel abroad and be- thick, examining the Precambrian mag- came an infantryman in the Middle Irving entered was still in its infancy at the time. By looking at the magnetic netic fields preserved in the sandstone’s East. Irving enjoyed seeing the world hematite crystals. In another portion of and began to place a priority on finding directions imparted to rocks by their iron minerals, Irving, along with fellow his graduate studies using rock samples a job that would pay him to travel. supplied by the Indian Geological Sur- students Ken Creer and Jan Hospers, Thus, he blended his interests in the vey, Irving made the first physical mea- natural world and traveling by entering endeavored to read the history of surement of the movement of India, Cambridge University (Cambridge, Earth’s magnetic field, also known as finding that it had moved northward by U.K.) in 1948 to study natural science, paleomagnetism. Irving explains paleo- 6,000 km and rotated more than 30 specializing in geology. While there, Irv- magnetism as ‘‘the memory that some degrees counterclockwise (1). These re- ing was under the academic tutelage of rocks have of the ancient geomagnetic sults fell close to the predictions of Al- the ‘‘very learned and very old’’ Gertie field.’’ When rocks are born as molten fred Wegener, who had put forth his Ellis, who was the first woman reader lava and cooled or as sediments accu- theory of continental drift in 1912 (an academic staff position) at Cam- mulating under water, their crystals (3, 5, 6). align with the Earth’s magnetic field. As bridge. Her influence marked Irving’s Success from Failure learning style. ‘‘She advised me to read Irving and his colleagues came to real- the original sources—papers rather than ize, this provides a geologic snapshot At the time of Irving’s studies of ancient latitudes in 1954, the field was so new books. ‘Read what people are actually because the magnetic field appears to saying, Irving.’’’ shift over time as continents and their After completing his B.A. in 1951, deposits move. This is a Biography of a recently elected member of the Irving was recruited by Keith Runcorn During his studies, Irving was able to National Academy of Sciences to accompany the member’s as a research assistant in the department take advantage of a stable, reliable, and Inaugural Article on page 1821. of geology and geophysics at Cambridge. sensitive magnetometer recently de- © 2005 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0407301101 PNAS ͉ February 8, 2005 ͉ vol. 102 ͉ no. 6 ͉ 1819–1820 Downloaded by guest on September 28, 2021 that he believes his doctoral examiners rock is fresh.’’ The surfaces of Australia and rotated relative to the Precambrian were not familiar enough with the sub- have been subjected to 10–15 million Canadian shield (13–15). ject matter to recognize his research years of weathering, whereas ‘‘the whole Semi-retired, Irving has recently in- achievements, resulting in Irving’s not top of Canada has been shined off for vestigated the ‘‘nature of the geomag- receiving a Ph.D. ‘‘I’m one of the few you.’’ Irving was initially hired as a re- netic field in the Precambrian 1,900 people who has ever failed a Ph.D.,’’ he search officer for Dominion Observa- million years ago to see how the crust says. He wrote about many new discov- tory (Ottawa) with the Department of was being deformed and how the lati- eries in his thesis but says he did not Mines and Technical Surveys, with the tudes varied.’’ ‘‘decorate it with unnecessary exhibi- directive to develop a new facility to Despite the initial skepticism of his tions of knowledge.’’ Still, the paper was study paleomagnetism. Irving returned doctoral examiners, Irving has contrib- later published ‘‘almost verbatim’’ (3, 4). briefly to England as a professor at the uted vast amounts of knowledge about The results were not published until af- University of Leeds, teaching courses in the Earth’s past, much of which he puts ter he secured a position as a research the geophysics department for one year. into perspective with his Inaugural Arti- fellow at the Australian National Uni- In 1967, Irving returned to Ottawa as a cle. In the intervening years, Irving’s versity (Canberra). John Jaeger was research scientist in the Earth Physics scientific contributions have not gone head of the relatively new geophysics Branch of the Department of Energy, unrecognized. He was made a fellow of department. ‘‘He simply told me about Mines, and Resources, where he stayed the Royal Society of London in 1979 his own disappointments in life and how until 1981. During his time there, Irving and awarded the Order of Canada in they’d helped him in the long run,’’ says 2003. He remembers one award particu- Irving. ‘‘We had a beer and that was larly fondly. The Gondwanaland Gold that. He let me get on with it.’’ ‘‘Canada has the In Australia, Irving’s work tested ‘‘the Medal of the Mining, Geological, and proposition that if continents really had largest Precambrian Metallurgical Society of India ‘‘meant a not moved, then the polar path ob- great deal to me because some of the served from Australia should match that shield, and it was first work I did was from India,’’ Irving just discovered for Europe’’ (7). But says. It was the same research for which Australia’s path, which Irving and stu- something of a the doctoral examiners had failed him dent Ron Green inferred from recon- on early in his career: ‘‘You can’t expect structing the ancient latitudes, did not national duty to the world to believe you, but it is suffi- match that of Europe (8). ‘‘Ten years cient to believe in yourself.’’ later, by the time plate tectonics had study it.’’ come along, everything we had done At Home in the Garden had been vindicated,’’ he says. Studies Irving spends his mornings in the labo- of paleomagnetism also helped explain focused on the geology unique to Can- ratory but spends each afternoon at climate changes inferred from the pres- ada. ‘‘Canada has the largest Precam- home tending to his large, 1.3-acre gar- ence of temperature-sensitive deposits brian shield, and it was something of a den. ‘‘‘It’s bananas,’ our daughter once such as glacial beds. By calculating the national duty to study it,’’ he says. ‘‘And said. It is big. It’s ambitious,’’ says Irv- latitudes of Australia during the Per- there are the western mountains, too.’’ ing. Except for his time in the British mian period, Irving showed that Austra- As in England and Australia, Irving Army and at university, Irving has gar- lia was then in high latitudes, further mapped the polar wander for different dened since age 13.

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