Full Description

GSA Special Paper 512

In Recollections of a Petrologist, Joseph Paxson Iddings (1857–1920), the leading American igneous petrologist of his era, recounts his illustrious career with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Chicago. A major participant in the transition from hand-specimen petrography to theoretical igneous petrology based on microscopical petrography and physical chemistry, Iddings deciphered the igneous geology of Yellowstone National Park, spearheaded the CIPW quantitative igneous rock classification project, and wrote several magisterial petrology texts. In Recollections, Iddings sheds light on the central petrologic issues of his time in a lucid narrative interspersed with assessments of the personalities and achievements of geological contemporaries, literary allusions, poems, humorous stories, and a wealth of vivid descriptions and impressions of the cultures of Far Eastern countries. No petrologist, mineralogist, or historian of geology should miss the pleasurable reading offered by Recollections. Editor D.A. Young has supported Iddings’ lively text with literature citations, a bibliography, and hundreds of biographical notes.