Clair Patterson
Clair Cameron Patterson (1922–1995) was an American geochemist hailing from Iowa. In the 1950s, Patterson and his colleague George Tilton produced a calculation of the age of the Earth, which equaled to 4.55 billion years, using radiometric dating at the University of Chicago,[1] over a billion years older than previous estimates.[2] Patterson's estimate has held as the scientific consensus since he published his findings.
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Following this breakthrough, Patterson continued dating rocks, which led to a second important discovery: the amount of lead in the environment was much higher than the lead content in sediments, which meant humans were pumping way too much of the stuff into the atmosphere.[3] The main source of this excess lead was quickly traced to the tetraethyllead
Patterson spent much of his career working in poorly-funded labs, and was excluded from higher-paying jobs, scientific panels, and larger studies thanks to the influence of The Ethyl Corporation.
References
- National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoirs V.74. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1998. doi:10.17226/6201. http://www.nap.edu/read/6201/chapter/16#271
- http://www.nap.edu/read/6201/chapter/16#272
- http://www.nap.edu/read/6201/chapter/16#274
- http://www.nap.edu/read/6201/chapter/16#278