Norman L. Bowen

Norman Levi Bowen FRS[3] (June 21, 1887 – September 11, 1956) was a Canadian geologist. Bowen "revolutionized experimental petrology and our understanding of mineral crystallization". Beginning geology students are familiar with Bowen's reaction series depicting how different minerals crystallize under varying pressures and temperatures."[4]

Norman Levi Bowen
Norman Levi Bowen
Born
Norman Levi Bowen

(1887-06-21)June 21, 1887
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
DiedSeptember 11, 1956(1956-09-11) (aged 69)
NationalityCanadian
Alma materBSc, Queen's University School of Mining, Kingston, Ontario[1]
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1912[1]
Known forBowen's reaction series
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPetrology
InstitutionsCarnegie Institution for Science
Doctoral advisorReginald A. Daly[1]

Career

Bowen conducted experimental research at the Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science of Washington from 1912 to 1937. He published The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks in 1928. This book set the stage for a geochemical and geophysical foundation for the study of rocks and minerals.

Personal life

Born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Bowen married Mary Lamont in 1911, and they had a daughter, Catherine.

Awards and honours

Bowen was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1921,[5] the American Philosophical Society in 1930,[6] and the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1935.[7] He was awarded the Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America in 1941 and served as their president in 1945.[8] He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1949.[3]

The Norman L. Bowen Award, awarded annually by the American Geophysical Union, is named in his honour.

The astronauts of Apollo 17 named a small lunar crater after him.

References
  1. "Norman L. Bowen: A founding father of experimental petrology (Geochemistry and Geochronology)". science.ca. 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  2. Norman Levi Bowen — Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
  3. Tilley, C. E. (1957). "Norman Levi Bowen 1887–1956". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 3: 6–26. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1957.0002. JSTOR 769349. S2CID 73262622.
  4. Chamot, Josh. 100 Years of Science History., Geotimes, 3 (2002): 44–45. http://www.geotimes.org/mar02/onexhibit.html
  5. "Norman Levi Bowen". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  6. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  7. "Norman L. Bowen". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  8. Eckel, Edwin, 1982, GSA Memoir 155, The Geological Society of America — Life History of a Learned Society: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Memoir 155, 168 p., ISBN 0-8137-1155-X.

Further reading
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