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Research bearing on mantle processes
and their interaction with the underlying liquid core and
overlying crust involves the acquisition of accurate data from many
areas of Earth sciences, including seismology, geodesy,
geomagnetism, mineralogy, geochemistry, volcanology, and the
application of high pressure physics and chemistry in their analysis
and interpretation. Progress would be impossible, of course, without
the contributions of many specialists in all these areas. But
equally important is the work by a few unusual and outstanding
individuals whose bold ideas and initiatives towards the
reconciliation of the observational data in terms of ever-improving
theoretical models provide momentum and strategic guidance for new
solid Earth studies.
Through his research publications, including his
stimulating 1989 book "Theory of the Earth", and those of
his students, Don Anderson has been a key player in this
enterprise for over three decades. Born in 1933, he has spent most
of his professional career at Cal. Tech, where from 1967-1989 he
served as the director of the famous "Seismolab". The high
reputation enjoyed by solid Earth geophysicists at Cal. Tech and
other major US institutions for their research and teaching owes
much to the leadership provided by Professor Anderson. A past
president of the American Geophysical Union, amongst his many other
distinctions and awards are the US Presidential Science Medal and
the 1998 Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
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