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Arthur Holmes

September 01, 2023

For other people named Arthur Holmes, see Arthur Holmes (disambiguation).

Arthur Holmes FRS FRSE (14 January 1890 – 20 September 1965) was an English geologist who made two major contributions to the understanding of geology. He pioneered the use of radiometric dating of minerals, and was the first earth scientist to grasp the mechanical and thermal implications of mantle convection, which led eventually to the acceptance of plate tectonics.[2][3]

Arthur Holmes

FRS FRSE
Holmes around age 22
Born(1890-01-14)14 January 1890
Hebburn, England
Died20 September 1965(1965-09-20) (aged 75)
London, England
Alma materImperial College London
AwardsMurchison Medal (1940)
FRS (1942)[1]
Wollaston Medal (1956)
Penrose Medal (1956)
Vetlesen Prize (1964)
Scientific career
Institutions
InfluencesRobert Strutt

Life Edit

He was born in Hebburn, County Durham, near Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of David Holmes, a cabinet-maker, and his wife, Emily Dickinson.[4]

As a child, he lived in Low Fell, Gateshead, and attended the Gateshead Higher Grade School (later Gateshead Grammar School).[5] At 17, he enrolled to study physics at the Royal College of Science (now Imperial College London), but took a course in geology in his second year, which settled his future, against the advice of his tutors. Surviving on a scholarship of £60/year was difficult and on graduating hall, he took a job prospecting for minerals in Mozambique. After six months, with no discoveries, he became so ill with malaria that a notice of his death was posted home. However, he recovered enough to catch the boat home and became a demonstrator at Imperial College.[6]

He obtained his Doctorate of Science in 1917, and in 1920 he joined an oil company in Burma as chief geologist. The company failed, and he returned to England penniless in 1924. He had been accompanied in Burma by his three-year-old son, who contracted dysentery and died shortly before Holmes's departure.

He was head of the Department of Geology, Durham University, 1924–1943. He held the chair of geology at the University of Edinburgh from 1943–1956.

Holmes died at 20 St John's Avenue in Putney, London, on 20 September 1965. He was 75.[7]

Personal life Edit

He married his first wife, Margaret Howe, in 1914. After she died in 1938, Holmes in the following year married Doris Reynolds, a geologist who had joined the teaching staff at Durham. After his death, she edited the third edition of the Principles.[8]

Age of the earth Edit

Holmes was a pioneer of geochronology, and performed the first accurate uranium-lead radiometric dating (specifically designed to measure the age of a rock) while an undergraduate in London, assigning an age of 370 Ma to a Devonian rock from Norway, improving on the work of Boltwood who published nothing more on the subject. This result was published in 1911,[9] after his graduation in 1910.

1912 saw Holmes on the staff of Imperial College, publishing his famous book The Age of the Earth in 1913 in which he argued strongly for radioactive methods compared with methods based on geological sedimentation or cooling of the earth (many people still clung to Lord Kelvin's calculations of less than 100 Ma). He estimated the oldest Archean rocks to be 1,600 Ma, but did not speculate about the Earth's age.[10] By this time the discovery of isotopes had complicated the calculations and he spent the next years grappling with these. His promotion of the theory over the next decades earned him the nickname of Father of modern geochronology.[11] By 1927 he had revised this figure to 3,000 Ma[12] and in the 1940s to 4,500±100 Ma, based on measurements of the relative abundance of uranium isotopes by Alfred O. C. Nier.[13] The general method is now known as the Holmes-Houterman model after Fritz Houtermans who published in the same year, 1946.[14]

In 1924 he was appointed to the newly created post of reader in geology at Durham University. Eighteen years later his achievements were recognised, when he became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1942.[1] In the following year he was appointed to the chair of geology at the University of Edinburgh, following the death of Prof Thomas James Jehu, which post he held until retirement in 1956. In 1944 he published the first edition of his Principles of Physical Geology which became a standard textbook in the UK and elsewhere.[15]

Continental drift Edit

 
Spreading at a mid-ocean ridge

Holmes championed the theory of continental drift promoted by Alfred Wegener at a time when it was deeply unfashionable with his more conservative peers. One problem with the theory lay in the mechanism of movement, and Holmes proposed that Earth's mantle contained convection cells that dissipated radioactive heat and moved the crust at the surface. His Principles of Physical Geology ended with a chapter on continental drift. Part of the model was the origin of the seafloor spreading concept.[16][17]

Honours and awards Edit

Honours included:[18]

The Arthur Holmes Medal of the European Geosciences Union and a crater on Mars[19] have been named in his honour. The Durham University Department of Earth Sciences' Isotope Geology Laboratory[20] is also named after him, as is the students' Geology Society.

Major works Edit

  • The age of the earth 1913, Harper & Brothers, 2nd edition 1927, 3rd edition 1937.
  • The nomenclature of petrology, with references to selected literature. Thos Murby, London, van Nostrand, New York, 1920, 2nd edition 1928.
  • Petrographic methods and calculations with some examples of results achieved Thos Murby, London, 1921 2nd edition 1930.
  • Radioactivity and Earth Movements, Trans Geological Soc, Glasgow, vol 18, pp 559–606.
  • Principles of Physical Geology 1944, Thomas Nelson & Sons, 2nd edition 1965, 3rd edition (with Doris Holmes) 1978, 4th edition (with Donald Duff) 1993.
  • The Phanerozoic time-scale; a symposium dedicated to Professor Arthur Holmes Geological Society, London, 1964.

References Edit

  1. ^ a b Dunham, K. C. (1966). "Arthur Holmes 1890-1965". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 12: 290–310. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1966.0013.
  2. ^ Edmond A. Mathez, ed. (2000), , New Press, archived from the original on 27 September 2013, retrieved 5 February 2013
  3. ^ "Holmes, Arthur". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33951. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  5. ^ , archived from the original on 26 July 2013
  6. ^ Lewis, Cherry L. E., Arthur Holmes: An Ingenious Geoscientist (PDF), retrieved 5 February 2013
  7. ^ (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  8. ^ Doris Reynolds, retrieved 5 February 2013
  9. ^ Holmes, A. (1911). "The Association of Lead with Uranium in Rock-Minerals, and Its Application to the Measurement of Geological Time". Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 85 (578): 248. Bibcode:1911RSPSA..85..248H. doi:10.1098/rspa.1911.0036.
  10. ^ Holmes, Arthur (1913), The Age of the Earth, London: Harper, p. 18
  11. ^ , University of Durham, archived from the original on 28 May 2013, retrieved 3 February 2013
  12. ^ Dalrymple, G. Brent (2004), Ancient Earth, Ancient Skies: The Age of Earth and Its Cosmic Surroundings, Stanford University Press, p. 52 Oddly Dalrymple doesn't seem to have read Holmes's 1913 edition.
  13. ^ Reynolds, John H., Alfred Otto Carl Nier
  14. ^ Dalrymple 2004, p. 156
  15. ^ Holmes, Arthur (1944), Principles of Physical Geology (1 ed.), Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, ISBN 0-17-448020-2
  16. ^ Wessel, P.; Müller, R. D. (2007), "Plate Tectonics", Treatise on Geophysics, vol. 6, Elsevier, pp. 49–98
  17. ^ Vine, F. J. (1966). "Spreading of the Ocean Floor: New Evidence". Science. 154 (3755): 1405–1415. Bibcode:1966Sci...154.1405V. doi:10.1126/science.154.3755.1405. PMID 17821553. S2CID 44362406.
  18. ^ "The 11 medals of Arthur Holmes". The Geological Society. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  19. ^ Summerhayes, C. P. (2015). Earth's Climate Evolution. John Wiley & Sons. p. 56. ISBN 978-1118897386.
  20. ^ Arthur Holmes Laboratory, Durham University, retrieved 31 July 2016

External links Edit

  • Lewis, Cherry (2000), The Dating Game: One Man's Search for the Age of the Earth, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-89312-7
  • ,
  • Another short biography
  • Works by or about Arthur Holmes at Internet Archive

September 01, 2023
arthur, holmes, other, people, named, disambiguation, frse, january, 1890, september, 1965, english, geologist, made, major, contributions, understanding, geology, pioneered, radiometric, dating, minerals, first, earth, scientist, grasp, mechanical, thermal, i. For other people named Arthur Holmes see Arthur Holmes disambiguation Arthur Holmes FRS FRSE 14 January 1890 20 September 1965 was an English geologist who made two major contributions to the understanding of geology He pioneered the use of radiometric dating of minerals and was the first earth scientist to grasp the mechanical and thermal implications of mantle convection which led eventually to the acceptance of plate tectonics 2 3 Arthur HolmesFRS FRSEHolmes around age 22Born 1890 01 14 14 January 1890Hebburn EnglandDied20 September 1965 1965 09 20 aged 75 London EnglandAlma materImperial College LondonAwardsMurchison Medal 1940 FRS 1942 1 Wollaston Medal 1956 Penrose Medal 1956 Vetlesen Prize 1964 Scientific careerInstitutionsDurham University 1924 1942 University of Edinburgh 1943 1956 InfluencesRobert Strutt Contents 1 Life 2 Personal life 3 Age of the earth 4 Continental drift 5 Honours and awards 6 Major works 7 References 8 External linksLife EditHe was born in Hebburn County Durham near Newcastle upon Tyne the son of David Holmes a cabinet maker and his wife Emily Dickinson 4 As a child he lived in Low Fell Gateshead and attended the Gateshead Higher Grade School later Gateshead Grammar School 5 At 17 he enrolled to study physics at the Royal College of Science now Imperial College London but took a course in geology in his second year which settled his future against the advice of his tutors Surviving on a scholarship of 60 year was difficult and on graduating hall he took a job prospecting for minerals in Mozambique After six months with no discoveries he became so ill with malaria that a notice of his death was posted home However he recovered enough to catch the boat home and became a demonstrator at Imperial College 6 He obtained his Doctorate of Science in 1917 and in 1920 he joined an oil company in Burma as chief geologist The company failed and he returned to England penniless in 1924 He had been accompanied in Burma by his three year old son who contracted dysentery and died shortly before Holmes s departure He was head of the Department of Geology Durham University 1924 1943 He held the chair of geology at the University of Edinburgh from 1943 1956 Holmes died at 20 St John s Avenue in Putney London on 20 September 1965 He was 75 7 Personal life EditHe married his first wife Margaret Howe in 1914 After she died in 1938 Holmes in the following year married Doris Reynolds a geologist who had joined the teaching staff at Durham After his death she edited the third edition of the Principles 8 Age of the earth EditHolmes was a pioneer of geochronology and performed the first accurate uranium lead radiometric dating specifically designed to measure the age of a rock while an undergraduate in London assigning an age of 370 Ma to a Devonian rock from Norway improving on the work of Boltwood who published nothing more on the subject This result was published in 1911 9 after his graduation in 1910 1912 saw Holmes on the staff of Imperial College publishing his famous book The Age of the Earth in 1913 in which he argued strongly for radioactive methods compared with methods based on geological sedimentation or cooling of the earth many people still clung to Lord Kelvin s calculations of less than 100 Ma He estimated the oldest Archean rocks to be 1 600 Ma but did not speculate about the Earth s age 10 By this time the discovery of isotopes had complicated the calculations and he spent the next years grappling with these His promotion of the theory over the next decades earned him the nickname of Father of modern geochronology 11 By 1927 he had revised this figure to 3 000 Ma 12 and in the 1940s to 4 500 100 Ma based on measurements of the relative abundance of uranium isotopes by Alfred O C Nier 13 The general method is now known as the Holmes Houterman model after Fritz Houtermans who published in the same year 1946 14 In 1924 he was appointed to the newly created post of reader in geology at Durham University Eighteen years later his achievements were recognised when he became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1942 1 In the following year he was appointed to the chair of geology at the University of Edinburgh following the death of Prof Thomas James Jehu which post he held until retirement in 1956 In 1944 he published the first edition of his Principles of Physical Geology which became a standard textbook in the UK and elsewhere 15 Continental drift Edit nbsp Spreading at a mid ocean ridgeHolmes championed the theory of continental drift promoted by Alfred Wegener at a time when it was deeply unfashionable with his more conservative peers One problem with the theory lay in the mechanism of movement and Holmes proposed that Earth s mantle contained convection cells that dissipated radioactive heat and moved the crust at the surface His Principles of Physical Geology ended with a chapter on continental drift Part of the model was the origin of the seafloor spreading concept 16 17 Honours and awards EditHonours included 18 1940 Murchison Medal Geological Society of London 1946 Sederholm Medal Geological Society of Finland 1955 Foreign Member Academie des sciences Institut de France 1956 Penrose Medal Geological Society of America 1956 Wollaston Medal Geological Society of London 1962 Makdougall Brisbane Medal Royal Society of Edinburgh 1964 Vetlesen Prize Columbia UniversityThe Arthur Holmes Medal of the European Geosciences Union and a crater on Mars 19 have been named in his honour The Durham University Department of Earth Sciences Isotope Geology Laboratory 20 is also named after him as is the students Geology Society Major works EditThe age of the earth 1913 Harper amp Brothers 2nd edition 1927 3rd edition 1937 The nomenclature of petrology with references to selected literature Thos Murby London van Nostrand New York 1920 2nd edition 1928 Petrographic methods and calculations with some examples of results achieved Thos Murby London 1921 2nd edition 1930 Radioactivity and Earth Movements Trans Geological Soc Glasgow vol 18 pp 559 606 Principles of Physical Geology 1944 Thomas Nelson amp Sons 2nd edition 1965 3rd edition with Doris Holmes 1978 4th edition with Donald Duff 1993 The Phanerozoic time scale a symposium dedicated to Professor Arthur Holmes Geological Society London 1964 References Edit a b Dunham K C 1966 Arthur Holmes 1890 1965 Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 12 290 310 doi 10 1098 rsbm 1966 0013 Edmond A Mathez ed 2000 EARTH INSIDE AND OUT New Press archived from the original on 27 September 2013 retrieved 5 February 2013 Holmes Arthur Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press 2004 doi 10 1093 ref odnb 33951 Subscription or UK public library membership required Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 2002 PDF The Royal Society of Edinburgh July 2006 ISBN 0 902 198 84 X Archived from the original PDF on 24 January 2013 Retrieved 4 November 2016 Commemorative Plaques in Gateshead Borough archived from the original on 26 July 2013 Lewis Cherry L E Arthur Holmes An Ingenious Geoscientist PDF retrieved 5 February 2013 Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 2002 PDF The Royal Society of Edinburgh July 2006 ISBN 0 902 198 84 X Archived from the original PDF on 24 January 2013 Retrieved 4 November 2016 Doris Reynolds retrieved 5 February 2013 Holmes A 1911 The Association of Lead with Uranium in Rock Minerals and Its Application to the Measurement of Geological Time Proceedings of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences 85 578 248 Bibcode 1911RSPSA 85 248H doi 10 1098 rspa 1911 0036 Holmes Arthur 1913 The Age of the Earth London Harper p 18 The Arthur Holmes Geological Society University of Durham archived from the original on 28 May 2013 retrieved 3 February 2013 Dalrymple G Brent 2004 Ancient Earth Ancient Skies The Age of Earth and Its Cosmic Surroundings Stanford University Press p 52 Oddly Dalrymple doesn t seem to have read Holmes s 1913 edition Reynolds John H Alfred Otto Carl Nier Dalrymple 2004 p 156 Holmes Arthur 1944 Principles of Physical Geology 1 ed Edinburgh Thomas Nelson amp Sons ISBN 0 17 448020 2 Wessel P Muller R D 2007 Plate Tectonics Treatise on Geophysics vol 6 Elsevier pp 49 98 Vine F J 1966 Spreading of the Ocean Floor New Evidence Science 154 3755 1405 1415 Bibcode 1966Sci 154 1405V doi 10 1126 science 154 3755 1405 PMID 17821553 S2CID 44362406 The 11 medals of Arthur Holmes The Geological Society Retrieved 3 April 2017 Summerhayes C P 2015 Earth s Climate Evolution John Wiley amp Sons p 56 ISBN 978 1118897386 Arthur Holmes Laboratory Durham University retrieved 31 July 2016External links EditLewis Cherry 2000 The Dating Game One Man s Search for the Age of the Earth Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 89312 7 Geological Society of America short biography 1 Another short biography Works by or about Arthur Holmes at Internet Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Arthur Holmes amp oldid 1159581996, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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