George Perkins Merrill (May 31, 1854 – August 15, 1929) was an American

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

, notable as the head curator from 1917 to 1929 of the Department of Geology, United States National Museum (now the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

of the Smithsonian Institution).

Biography

George Perkins Merrill was born in

Auburn, Maine Auburn is a city in south-central Maine within the United States. The city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County. The population was 24,061 at the 2020 census. Auburn and its sister city Lewiston are known locally as the Twin Cities ...

on May 31, 1854. He was educated at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

(B.S., 1879; Ph.D., 1889), took a post-graduate courses of study and was assistant in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

(1879–1880), and subsequently studied at

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

(1886–1887). In 1881 he became assistant curator at the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He also served as

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of geology and mineralogy at the Corcoran Scientific School of

Columbian University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presid ...

(now George Washington University) from 1893 to 1916, and was appointed head

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the department of geology at the National Museum in 1897. In 1922 he was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. He wrote many periodical contributions, especially on

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

s. His assistants included Edgar T. Wherry and Margaret W. Moodey. In 1897 Merrill proposed the term

regolith Regolith () is a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock. It includes dust, broken rocks, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestria ...

for the loose outer layer of Earth, the Moon, Mars, etc. covering solid rock.

Personal life

Merrill married Sarah Farrington on November 19, 1883, and they had four children. She died in 1894, and he remarried to Katherine Lulalia Yancey on February 13, 1900. They had one child. He died from a heart attack in Auburn, Maine on August 15, 1929, and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery there. The grave marker is engraved:

Publications

His chief publications are: *''Stones for Building and Decoration'' (1891; third edition, 1903) *''A Treatise on Rocks, Rock-Weathering, and Soils'' (1897; second edition, 1906) *''The Non-Metallic Minerals'' (1904; second edition, 1910) * ''The Fossil Forests of Arizona'' (1911); 23 pages including illustrations *''The First Hundred Years of American Geology'' (1924)

Notes

External links

1854-1929, George P. Merrill Collection, circa 1800-1930 and undatedGeorge P. Merrill Collection, 1889-1925 and undated
* American science writers Wesleyan University alumni Wesleyan University faculty George Washington University faculty Smithsonian Institution people American curators People from Auburn, Maine American geologists 1854 births 1929 deaths University of Maine alumni Writers from Maine Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences {{US-geologist-stub

Biography

Personal life

Publications

Notes

Further reading

External links