Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Harmon Craig AI simulator
(@Harmon Craig_simulator)
Hub AI
Harmon Craig AI simulator
(@Harmon Craig_simulator)
Harmon Craig
Harmon Craig (March 15, 1926 – March 14, 2003) was an American geochemist who worked briefly for the University of Chicago (1951-1955) before spending the majority of his career at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1955-2003).
Craig was involved in numerous research expeditions, which visited the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, the crater of Loihi (now known as Kamaʻehuakanaloa), the Afar Depression of Ethiopia, Greenland's ice cores, and Yellowstone's geysers, among many others. This led to him being described as "the Indiana Jones of the Earth sciences", someone "whose overriding impulse was to get out and see the world they were studying".
Craig made many significant discoveries in geochemistry. He is credited with establishing the field of carbon isotope geochemistry by characterizing carbon's stable isotopic signatures in various natural materials. This had immediate applications in radiocarbon dating. By studying stable and radioactive carbon isotopes in the biosphere and air-sea system, he derived the atmospheric residence time of carbon dioxide with respect to oceanic uptake. His work laid the foundation for isotopic studies of the carbon cycle, and was fundamental to understanding carbon sequestering in the oceanic and the terrestrial biosphere and the modulation of global warming. In addition, from 1969 to 1989, Harmon Craig served as an editor for Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Harmon Craig was born March 15, 1926 in Manhattan, in New York City, to John Richard Craig, Jr. and Virginia (Stanley) Craig. He was named after his uncle, Harmon Bushnell Craig (1895–1917), but does not use his middle name.
Harmon Craig's grandparents on his father's side were actors, directors and producers. During World War I, John Craig (1866–1932) and his wife, actress Mary Young, led the first professional American stock theater company to travel to France and entertain troops at the front. While they entertained the troops, their sons Harmon Bushnell Craig (1895–1917) and John Richard Craig, Jr. (1896–1945) served in the war effort. John Craig, Jr. received a French Croix de Guerre for his efforts as a second lieutenant of artillery, working with French 75s. Harmon Bushnell Craig died serving with an ambulatory corps run by the American Field Service, and was posthumously awarded the French Croix de Guerre.
In November 1924, John Craig, Jr. married Virginia Stanley of Wichita, Kansas. They had three children.
Harmon Craig's mother, Virginia Stanley, was descended from Quakers who helped found schools for freed slaves. His mother's involvement with the Quakers was a strong influence on Harmon Craig.
Harmon Craig studied geology and chemistry at the University of Chicago. In 1944, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a communications and radar officer during World War II. After the war, he continued his education at University of Chicago, working with Nobel Laureate Harold Urey. Craig credits Urey with giving him valuable advice on how to choose scientific problems: "If you go into a project, it's got to be a scientific problem that has rooms that continue into other rooms."
Harmon Craig
Harmon Craig (March 15, 1926 – March 14, 2003) was an American geochemist who worked briefly for the University of Chicago (1951-1955) before spending the majority of his career at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1955-2003).
Craig was involved in numerous research expeditions, which visited the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, the crater of Loihi (now known as Kamaʻehuakanaloa), the Afar Depression of Ethiopia, Greenland's ice cores, and Yellowstone's geysers, among many others. This led to him being described as "the Indiana Jones of the Earth sciences", someone "whose overriding impulse was to get out and see the world they were studying".
Craig made many significant discoveries in geochemistry. He is credited with establishing the field of carbon isotope geochemistry by characterizing carbon's stable isotopic signatures in various natural materials. This had immediate applications in radiocarbon dating. By studying stable and radioactive carbon isotopes in the biosphere and air-sea system, he derived the atmospheric residence time of carbon dioxide with respect to oceanic uptake. His work laid the foundation for isotopic studies of the carbon cycle, and was fundamental to understanding carbon sequestering in the oceanic and the terrestrial biosphere and the modulation of global warming. In addition, from 1969 to 1989, Harmon Craig served as an editor for Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Harmon Craig was born March 15, 1926 in Manhattan, in New York City, to John Richard Craig, Jr. and Virginia (Stanley) Craig. He was named after his uncle, Harmon Bushnell Craig (1895–1917), but does not use his middle name.
Harmon Craig's grandparents on his father's side were actors, directors and producers. During World War I, John Craig (1866–1932) and his wife, actress Mary Young, led the first professional American stock theater company to travel to France and entertain troops at the front. While they entertained the troops, their sons Harmon Bushnell Craig (1895–1917) and John Richard Craig, Jr. (1896–1945) served in the war effort. John Craig, Jr. received a French Croix de Guerre for his efforts as a second lieutenant of artillery, working with French 75s. Harmon Bushnell Craig died serving with an ambulatory corps run by the American Field Service, and was posthumously awarded the French Croix de Guerre.
In November 1924, John Craig, Jr. married Virginia Stanley of Wichita, Kansas. They had three children.
Harmon Craig's mother, Virginia Stanley, was descended from Quakers who helped found schools for freed slaves. His mother's involvement with the Quakers was a strong influence on Harmon Craig.
Harmon Craig studied geology and chemistry at the University of Chicago. In 1944, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a communications and radar officer during World War II. After the war, he continued his education at University of Chicago, working with Nobel Laureate Harold Urey. Craig credits Urey with giving him valuable advice on how to choose scientific problems: "If you go into a project, it's got to be a scientific problem that has rooms that continue into other rooms."