A Geophysical Laboratory is Born

 

Andrew Carnegie had an idea. Made rich beyond any man’s wildest dreams through wise investments and the booming steel industry, he sought to share his wealth to advance knowledge and education. Over his lifetime, Carnegie had contributed to just causes associated with literature, education, and the arts. In 1901, he became interested in science.

America’s top minds immediately sprung into action, bombarding Carnegie with hundreds of different opinions about how to donate his money.

(Above) The Geophysical Laboratory under construction in 1906 at the Upton Street campus in Washington, D.C. Photograph by E. S. Shepherd.
 

Initially, Carnegie planned to fund a great new American university for science, but after a meeting with Daniel C. Gilman, the soon to be named President of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and John S. Billings on November 16, 1901, he changed his emphasis from education to research and post graduate training. Despite the events of November 16th, it wasn’t until December 2nd that Carnegie formally announced the future gift of ten million dollars for a scientific institution in Washington, D.C.
 

(Above) Cartoon by Clifford Berryman. Published in the Washington Evening Star, January 1911.

It took the earth-scientists only two weeks to respond. On Dec. 16th, George F. Becker, the then director of the physical laboratory at the U. S. Geological Survey, submitted an outline for a geophysical laboratory entitled “Concerning the Geophysical Laboratory” to Charles D. Walcott, who was soon to be appointed Secretary of the Carnegie Institution's Board of Trustees. More detailed proposals were submitted the following year by the Advisory Committee on Geophysics for the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the "Committee of Eight."

By the end of 1903, the Advisory Committee on Geophysics agreed on and published a set of specific plans for staff, building design, budget, and organization for the proposed laboratory. With almost every detail arranged and accounted for, the Trustees officially approved and established the Carnegie Institution of Washington Geophysical Laboratory on December 12, 1905.

From 1906 to 1907, architects, designers, and construction workers labored tirelessly until the laboratory was finished at the Upton Street campus in northwest Washington, D.C. in June of 1907. The total cost exceeded $300,000.
 

Under first director Arthur L. Day’s watchful and meticulous eyes, the Geophysical Laboratory flourished and rapidly established a reputation for excellence in physical-chemical studies of rocks and minerals. This tradition of excellence has proved a trend over the last one hundred years, as the Geophysical Laboratory now celebrates its centennial.

Programs in volcanology, seismology, high pressure research, and experimental petrology followed in the 1910's and 20's, driven by great contributions by such renowned Laboratory staff members as N. L. Bowen, H. S. Washington, and G. W. Morey. Crystal structure determinations using X-ray diffraction were initiated in 1919 under R. W. G. Wyckoff. Upon Philip Abelson's arrival as director in 1953, the Geophysical Laboratory broadened its investigations to include biogeochemistry. In the 1970's and 80's, a flourishing mineral physics program was begun.

(Above) The founding staff members of the Geophysical Laboratory. Pictured front are: G. R. Hoffman, E. T. Allen, A. L. Day (director), and W. P. White. Back row: W. Beck, C. W. H. Ellis, F. E. Wright, B. D. Chamberlain, J. K. Clement, and A. F. Susan. Photograph by E. S. Shepherd, 1906.
 

In 1990, the Geophysical Laboratory co-located with Carnegie's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism on its current site on Broad Branch Road in Northwest Washington, D.C. The move proved advantageous in a number of different ways-- from facilitating cooperation between the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism and Geophysical Laboratory scientists for experimental and theoretical purposes, to a fun and friendly rivalry brought to a climax in the yearly "Mud Cup" soccer matches. All in all, the Geophysical Laboratory has found a satisfactory home at Broad Branch Road; one of learning, cooperation, and unity.
 
Geophysical Laboratory Directors:

The Geophysical Laboratory staff in front of the Abelson Building at Broad Branch Road, 2004.
 
References:
  • Huntress, Wesley T., Overview of research, in Carnegie Institution of Washington, Geophysical Laboratory (department booklet), 4 - 6, Washington, D.C., 1999.
  • Trefil, James and Margaret Hindle Hazen, Good Seeing, Joseph Henry Press, Washington, D.C., 2002.
  • Yoder, Hatten S., Jr. Centennial History of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Volume III, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004.