Ninth Annual V. M. Goldschmidt Conference 7103.pdf

GOLDSCHMIDT’S LEGACY: BRIAN MASON‘S CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMISTRY AND METEORITICS. U. B. Marvin, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge MA 02138, USA ([email protected]).

Introduction: On March 17, 1937, Victor Mason’s Career Moves and Geochemistry: M. Goldschmidt presented a lecture to the In 1944, Mason returned to New Zealand, where Chemical Society of London entitled, The Prin- he taught mineralogy and geochemistry until ciples of Distribution of the Chemical Elements 1947 and then moved to Indiana University. in Minerals and Rocks. Subsequently, the Soci- While there, he served as thesis advisor to Stuart ety’s journal carried a copy of his talk to far-off Ross Taylor, a former student from Christ- New Zealand where it caught the eye of Brian church. Mason’s book, Principles of Geochem- Mason, a fourth-year student at Canterbury istry, appeared in 1952. As the first textbook of College in Christchurch. For Mason, Gold- geochemistry in English, it opened this new in- schmidt’s demonstration that analyses of mete- terdisciplinary science to legions of students in orites are the key to the absolute abundances of geology, chemistry, and contingent fields. In the elements opened up an exciting new field 1953, Mason accepted a curatorial position at that never had been mentioned in any of his the American Museum of Natural History in courses in chemistry or geology. Two years New York, with an adjunct professorship at later, when he received a Graduate Fellowship Columbia University. His lectures were attended for study abroad, Mason wrote to Goldschmidt by Edward Anders in 1953 and Billy P. Glass in asking if he might come to his institute in Oslo. 1960, each of whom would pioneer new lines of Goldschmidt replied that he never had had a research. At the Museum, Mason reorganized student from the Antipodes and Mason would be the meteorite collection and collaborated with very welcome. the Finnish chemist, Birger Wiik, on a new clas- Interrupted Research in Oslo: Mason ar- sification of carbonaceous chondrites. He also rived in Oslo in January, 1940, four months af- mastered the technique of rapidly classifying ter World War II was declared. At Gold- ordinary chondrites by the g-indices of refrac- schmidt’s suggestion, Mason began research on tion of their olivines—a skill that proved in- the geochemistry of tellurium, but, on April 9th valuable in later years when he assumed respon- 1940, the Germans invaded Norway and Mason sibility for classifying the large influx of mete- rode out of Oslo two hours ahead of Hitler’s orites collected by U.S. teams in Antarctica. troops. In Stockholm, Mason enrolled in the The Space Age and Meteoritics: After the university and took up research on mineralogy. orbiting of Sputnik IV in 1957, Mason redou- In December, 1942, Goldschmidt, who had been bled his research on meteorites and supplied interned in a concentration camp in Norway, critically important samples to an ever increas- suddenly appeared in Stockholm, where he had ing number of scientists. In 1961, he presented a been spirited by the Norwegian underground. seminar on meteorites at the University of To- Soon afterward, the British flew Goldschmidt to kyo and expanded his lectures into his book, England. Mason received his doctorate in May Meteorites, which appeared in 1962. Once 1943, and left Stockholm for England where he again, Mason authored the first textbook in spent several months x-raying minerals, by the English on a subject of key importance. In 1965, hour, at the British Museum. He managed to Mason made his final career move to the Smith- meet with Goldschmidt only once. After the sonian Institution, where he conducted research war, Goldschmidt returned to Oslo hoping to on meteorites and lunar samples. Brian Mason resume his research, but his health was failing contributed significantly to the opening of a new and he died on March 20, 1947. Their associa- era in geochemistry, cosmochemistry and the tion had been brief, but Goldschmidt’s insights planetary sciences. had been decisive in shaping Mason’s interest in geochemistry.