Alfred Harker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alfred Harker
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| Born | 18 February 1859 Hull, Yorkshire, England
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| Died | 28 July 1939 (aged 80) |
| Occupation | Geologist |
| Known for | Geological studies of western Scotland and the Isle of Skye |
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Notable work
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Petrology for Students |
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Alfred Harker (born February 19, 1859 – died July 28, 1939) was a very important English geologist. He was an expert in studying rocks, especially how they formed and what they are made of. This field is called petrology.
Harker taught about rocks at the University of Cambridge for many years. He also helped map the geology of Scotland, especially the western parts and the Isle of Skye. He was one of the first British geologists to use special tools like thin sections and petrographic microscopes to understand rocks better.
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Who Was Alfred Harker?
Alfred Harker was born in Hull, England. His father, Portas Hewart Harker, was a corn merchant. Alfred went to several schools, including Hull and East Riding College. Later, he studied at St. John's College in Cambridge, where he earned his Master's degree in 1882.
His Early Life and Studies
While at Cambridge, Alfred Harker joined the Sedgwick Club, a group for geology students. In 1884, he started working in the Geology Department. He taught students about minerals and rocks. He considered Professor Thomas McKenny Hughes his mentor, a guide who helped him learn and grow.
Harker became a Fellow of St. John's College in 1885. He traveled to Western Europe in 1887, where he saw metamorphic rocks in the Ardennes region. This experience greatly influenced his future research. In 1891, he even went to the United States with Professor Hughes for an international geology meeting.
Exploring Rocks and Landscapes
In 1895, Harker began working part-time for the Geological Survey of Great Britain. This job involved mapping and identifying different types of igneous rocks. He focused on the Isle of Skye and the Small Isles in Scotland. He continued this work until 1905. During this time, he also became a member of the Scottish Mountaineering Club.
Harker also worked with Professor John Edward Marr to study volcanic rocks in the Lake District in 1889. The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences opened in 1904. A few years later, Harker published research on rock samples he had prepared. He even studied rocks collected by Charles Darwin during his famous voyage on the HMS Beagle.
Today, the Sedgwick Museum has a huge collection of rocks, over 150,000 samples! Many of these were collected and prepared by Harker himself. This amazing collection is known as the Harker Collection.
A Lifetime of Achievements
Alfred Harker retired in 1931. St. John's College honored him by making him a Life Fellow. He passed away in 1939. After his death, a book was published that showed the geology and beautiful landscapes of the Western Isles of Scotland. Many drawings in this book came from his own field notebooks.
Harker received many important awards for his work. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1902, which is a very high honor for scientists. He also received the Royal Medal in 1935. The Geological Society of London awarded him the Murchison Medal in 1907 and the Wollaston medal in 1922. He even served as the president of this society from 1916 to 1918.
The University of Edinburgh gave him an honorary law degree in 1919. To recognize his contributions, several places are named after him:
- Harker Glacier on South Georgia Island
- Mount Harker in Antarctica
- Dorsa Harker, a feature on the Moon
- The mineral harkerite, found on the Isle of Skye, is also named after him.
After he retired, he became the honorary curator of the Cambridge Petrological Museum. Two lecture rooms at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge are also named in his honor.
His Important Books
Alfred Harker wrote several important books that helped students and other geologists understand rocks better. Here are some of his well-known works:
- Petrology for Students, published in 1895. This book was very helpful for students learning about rocks.
- The Tertiary Igneous Rocks of Skye, published in 1904. This book focused on the volcanic rocks of the Isle of Skye.
- The Natural History of Igneous Rocks, published in 1909. This book explored how igneous rocks form in nature.
- Metamorphism: A Study of the Transformations of Rock-Masses, published in 1923. This book explained how rocks change over time due to heat and pressure.
His papers, including notebooks, sketchbooks, and photos from his geological trips, are kept at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences in Cambridge. These records show his detailed work in places like the Isle of Skye and the Scottish Highlands.
