John Edward Guest (6 December 1938 – 19 May 2012), was a British
volcanologist
A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, col ...
and
planetary scientist
Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their ...
.
Education and family
Guest was born in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
). He studied at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
(UCL) and he graduated there in 1962. He and Mary Guest, his wife, had two sons, Ben and James
Career
Guest remained as an employee of his ''
alma mater'' for the remainder of his career. He worked on his PhD under
Sydney Ewart Hollingworth on the subject of
tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
ignimbrite
Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...
s in the Chilean
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
, where Hollingworth had been mapping the geology.
Planetary geology
Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of the celestial bodies such as the planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Although the ...
and physical volcanology were developed at UCL under his auspices. He did research on a number of volcanoes around the World, but most notably
Mount Etna
Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( it, Etna or ; scn, Muncibbeḍḍu or ; la, Aetna; grc, Αἴτνα and ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina a ...
in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. He was the leader of the United Kingdom's efforts in a long-term collaboration with Italy to study the evolution of Mount Etna and, for the first time in over 100 years, make a geological map of it.
In 1984, he was asked by the government of the United Kingdom to assess the volcanic threat to the British military personnel at a
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
base in Sicily. After submitting his report, it found its way - the following day - into the Italian press with the headline, "Bye, bye, Naples!" and Guest used his skills as required to allay the concerns of Italian politicians.
He did postdoctoral study on lunar craters: he worked with Gilbert Fielder, a vocal supporter of the volcanic origin of the craters, at the university observatory. Guest soon rejected Fielder's commonly-held belief and instead supported the meteorite-impact mechanism; the new data unequivocally supported his view. He joined
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
's programme for planetary exploration, including the 1973 ''
Mariner 10
''Mariner 10'' was an American Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury (planet), Mercury and Venus. It was the first spacecraft to perform flybys of multiple planets.
''Ma ...
'' mission to
Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
and the 1975
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
programme to
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
. In 1980, he founded the first NASA
Regional Planetary Image Facility
The Regional Planetary Image Facilities (RPIFs) are planetary image and data libraries located throughout the United States and abroad that are funded by the host institutions. They once had funding from NASA A network of these facilities was esta ...
outside of the U.S.A. at UCL where he taught many leading international scientists including
Rosaly Lopes
Rosaly M. C. Lopes (born January 8, 1957) is a planetary geologist, volcanologist, an author of numerous scientific papers and several books, as well as a proponent of education. Her major research interests are in planetary and terrestrial su ...
, Chris Kilburn and Ben Bussey. He was involved with scientists from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
on their 1988 ''
Phobos 2
''Phobos 2'' was the last space probe designed by the Soviet Union. It was designed to explore the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. It was launched on 12 July 1988, and entered orbit on 29 January 1989.
''Phobos 2'' operated nominally throug ...
'' mission to Mars and further with the American 1989 ''
Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
'' mission to
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
.
He contributed to the first geological map of Mercury and the first detailed map of eastern equatorial Mars, along with
Ron Greeley. Guest and Greeley helped to select the ''
Viking 2
The ''Viking 2'' mission was part of the American Viking program to Mars, and consisted of an orbiter and a lander essentially identical to that of the ''Viking 1'' mission. ''Viking 2'' was operational on Mars for sols ( days; '). The ''Vik ...
'' landing site. With Philippe Masson,
:de:Gerhard Neukum, and Marcello Fulchignoni, he founded the European Planetary Geology Consortium in 1976 to foster cooperation in planetary surface studies.
In 1999, he moved from the UCL observatory to the Department of Geological Sciences.
As a story-teller, educator and colleague, he was much-loved, supportive, inspirational to generations of students and considered his role more as a vocation than a job. Showing his great humour, he duped his students into believing in rats occupying lava tubes and that the principal danger to be encountered while working amongst rope-like Hawaiian ''pahoehoe'' lavas was a poisonous snake. He had a great talent for interpreting geology from morphology, even from photographs. Very inquisitive, he was fascinated by the international cultures and customs he encountered on his travels. His fast thinking and remarkable skills of magnanimity were greatly admired: he would address the nub of a problem quickly and thus had a very influential effect in discussions, debates, decision-making and project planning.
He died at home in Church Stretton, Shropshire.
Awards
* G K Gilbert Award from the Geological Society of America, 1991
Legacy
* Comet 1982 HL was renamed ''Guest'' in his honour by the
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
in 1991.
* A crater on the Moon was named ''Guest'' in his honour by the International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature on 25 July 2017
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guest, John
1938 births
2016 deaths
British geologists
Planetary scientists
Alumni of University College London