[meteorite-list] Sad news...Robert Hutchison has died

From: bernd.pauli at paulinet.de <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: 30 Jan 2007 15:35:26 UT
Message-ID: <DIIE.000000C80000154D_at_paulinet.de>

Rob Elliott has asked me to forward this sad news to the list
Sad news indeed.
I've just received a very sad email from my friends at the Open University:
I am emailing with some very sad news. Bob Hutchison died on Friday morning.
He'll be sadly missed.


ROBERT HUTCHISON (2004) Meteorites: A Petrologic, Chemical, and
Isotopic Synthesis (Cambridge Planetary Science Series, pp. 506):

Meteorite research is fundamental to our understanding of the origin and early history
of the Solar System. Some meteorites were produced by melting on asteroids, a few are
from the Moon and others are Martian. Their study yields a chronology of the first 100
million years of Solar System history, and provides evidence that our Sun went through
a highly radiative, T Tauri stage. This book considers the mechanism and timing of core
formation and basaltic volcanisin on asteroids, and the effects of heating water-rich
bodies. Results from meteorite research are placed in a galactic setting, and a theory is
proposed for the origin of the planets of our Solar System. This advanced yet succinct
introduction provides a classification of meteorites, and discusses their ages and origin.

It will be valuable to graduate students and scientists in astrophysics, space research,
cosmochemistry, geochemistry, isotope geology, and Earth and planetary sciences. Robert
Hutchison is a retired research scientist and curator of meteorites at the Natural His-
tory Museum, London. He gained his Ph.D. in igneous petrology from Glasgow University,
and has held positions at Keele University, the Nigerian Geological Survey, and Leeds
University. His main research interest is in the origin and early history of the Solar
System, based on clues from ancient inclusions in chondrite meteorites. He has written
or co-authored several previous books, including the Catalogue of Meteorites (4th edition,
British Museum of Natural History, 1985), and Meteorites: The Key to our Existence
(Natural History Museum, 1992). Hutchison has served on the committees of several
learned societies and is a Fellow of the Meteoritical Society.

In 2000 he was awarded a Gold Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society for his contribution
to meteorite research, and in 2002, * * Asteroid 5308 Hutchison * * was named in his honor.
Received on Tue 30 Jan 2007 10:35:26 AM PST