Ralph Belknap Baldwin | |
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Born | Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States | June 6, 1912
Died | October 23, 2010 Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States | (aged 98)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Known for | Showed that lunar craters were the result of impacts, not volcanic in origin. Two of his books were highly influential and helped establish lunar timescales. |
Awards | Army Chief of Ordnance Award (1945) G.K. Gilbert Award (1986) J. Lawrence Smith Medal (1979) Leonard Medal (1986) Barringer Medal (2000) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Lunar science Manufacturing |
Institutions | Johns Hopkins University Oliver Machinery Company |
Ralph Belknap Baldwin (June 6, 1912 – October 23, 2010)[1] was an American planetary scientist known for his work on lunar craters, beginning in the late 1940s.[2] His book, The Face of the Moon[3] made the case for the impact nature of lunar craters.[4] He published The Measure of the Moon in 1963.[5]
Prior to his lunar work he was Senior Physicist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory during World War II working on the proximity fuze.[2] In 1947 he began working for Oliver Machinery Company. In 1970 he became president of the company and chairman of the board in 1982. He retired in 1984.[6] He died on October 23, 2010.[2]
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