Laurence McKinley Gould

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Laurence McKinley Gould (1981)

Laurence McKinley "Larry" Gould (born August 22, 1896 in Lacota , Michigan , † June 21, 1995 ) was an American geologist , university professor and polar explorer .

Life

Gould grew up in Lacota. After finishing high school in South Haven in 1914, he moved to Boca Raton and taught there for two years children of the first eight grades in a one-class school to earn money to finance their studies. In 1916 he enrolled at the University of Michigan . A year later, he interrupted the study and reported in the course of entering the United States in the first World War the US Army . He served until 1919 when he returned to the university.

After completing his bachelor's degree in geology in 1921, he joined the university while continuing his studies. During his studies he founded the Beta Tau Chapter of the student union Pi Kappa Alpha at the university. He was also active in the Society of Les Voyageurs , which is also a student organization , one of the oldest university so-called outdoor clubs .

In 1923 he received the master's degree and in 1925 the D.Sc. with a dissertation on the geology of the La Sal Mountains in Utah . In 1926 he became an assistant professor and in 1930 an associate professor at the University of Michigan.

In the summer of 1926, Gould traveled to the Arctic for the first time as an assistant director and geologist on the University of Michigan's Greenland expedition . The following summer he was involved as a geographer and topologist on George Putnam's expedition to explore the coast of Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic archipelago .

From 1928 to 1930 he accompanied Richard Evelyn Byrd as scientific director and deputy commander on his first Antarctic expedition . On November 4, 1929, Gould and five companions embarked on an extremely arduous two and a half month long 2,400 km sled dog journey into the Queen Maud Mountains . The primary objective was ground support and emergency coverage for Byrd's historic first flight over the South Pole. For this purpose, the first geological and glaciological investigations in this area were carried out. Gould called the area "a veritable paradise for a geologist". After the successful flight over the pole, Gould and his companions climbed Mount Fridtjof Nansen, also supplemented by geological investigations. The sandstone layers that Gould found in the rock outcropping on the mountain confirmed the theory that Antarctica is also geologically connected to the other continents.

The expedition had been a regular feature of the press and the participants received a triumphant reception on their return to the United States on July 19, 1930. Gould received numerous honors, including the Congressional Gold Medal , the David Livingstone Centenary Medal of the American Geographical Society of 1930 and a medal of the city of New York .

Two weeks later, on August 2, 1930, in Ann Arbor , Gould married Margaret ("Peg") Rice, who had been a student in one of his classes at the University of Michigan. In the aftermath of his return from Antarctica, Gould toured the country and lectured on his experiences. In 1931 his book Cold: the Record of an Antarctic Sledge Journey was published , in which he described the dog sled journey, blizzards , collapsing snow bridges and, above all, the cold that almost froze one companion's eyelid. In addition, he published various scientific articles with the results of his research during the expedition.

The NSF research ship named after Goud, 2013

In 1932 Gould took a position as a full professor and head of the geological department at Carleton College . In addition, the Gould moved to Minnesota . Gould was a popular professor at Carleton. In 1945 he was named president of the college, a position he held until 1962. In 1963 he retired and moved to Tuscon , where he taught glaciology at the University of Arizona . He was also President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science .

During his lifetime, Gould received 26 honorary degrees and degrees. In 1995, Carleton College renamed the library the Laurence McKinley Gould Library in his honor . The research vessel RV Laurence M. Gould , in 76 meter long, ice- going ship of the National Science Foundation for polar circumnavigations from the year was named after him.

Works

  • Gould, Laurence McKinley Cold: The Record of an Antarctic Sledge Journey . Carleton College, 2011, ISBN 9780974637990 .

Web links

Commons : Laurence McKinley Gould  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Laurence McKinley Gould Online Exhibit . Carleton College . Retrieved August 16, 2007.
  2. ^ R / V Laurence M. Gould . National Science Foundation . Retrieved August 16, 2007.
personal data
SURNAME Gould, Laurence McKinley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gould, Larry (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American geologist, university professor, and polar explorer
DATE OF BIRTH August 22, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Lacota , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 1995