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Heinz Adolf Lowenstam (October 9, 1912 - June 7, 1993) was German-born, Jewish-American paleoecologist celebrated for his discoveries in biomineralization: that living organisms manufacture substances such as the iron-containing mineral magnetite within their bodies.〔(Biographical memoirs:Heinz Adolf Lowenstam ) By Joseph L. Kirschvink, accessed 24 May 2008〕 He is also renowned for his pioneering research on coral reefs and their influence on biologic processes in the geologic record. == Biography == Heinz Adolf Lowenstam was born in 1912 in Upper Silesia, which was then southeastern Germany but was ceded to Poland following World War I. His hometown of Siemjanowicz was located in a mining district, and Lowenstam's fascination with geology began as a child playing on the piles of mine tailings, against the backdrop of Germany's great economic depression of the 1920s. His scientific interests were encouraged by his family and fostered through his attendance at an experimental Höchschule that focused on math, physics, and chemistry. It was here that Heinz started his first fossil collection and shaped his desire to become a paleontologist. Heinz began his collegiate studies in the vertebrate paleontology program at the University of Frankfurt, but arrived to find the program collapsing due to the recent death of the university's leading paleontologist. He transferred to the University of Munich in the fall of 1933, studying under Professors Broili, Edgar Dacqué, and the biologist Karl von Frisch. Lowenstam's studies in Munich coincided with Adolf Hitler's rise to power and the deterioration of conditions for German Jews. "In 1935, he declared his intention of conducting his Ph.D. field research in Palestine, to the dismay of his pro-Nazi department chairman".〔Kirschvink J.L, Heinz A. Lowenstam 1912-1993. Biographical Memoirs, 83. The National Academies Press, 2003〕 After spending 18 months studying the geology of the Eastern Nazareth Mountains, he returned to Germany in 1936 to learn that a new law was passed one week prior to his thesis defense prohibited the awarding of doctorates to Jews. Left with no choice but to leave, Heinz and his wife Ilse emigrated to the United States, arriving in Chicago in June 1937. His parents and sister were able to escape to Brazil, but most of Heinz's relatives later perished in the Holocaust. Lowenstam discussed his situation with the geology faculty at the University of Chicago, and was accepted to complete his degree, on the merit of recommendations from his mentors Broili and Dacqué. He received his Ph.D. in 1939, whereupon he immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight the Nazis. The U.S. military decided that his skills would be of more use in civilian work, developing coal and oil reserves with the Illinois Geological Survey. Subsequently, Heinz worked for a small oil company, then moved on to become a curator of invertebrate paleontology at the Illinois State Museum. There, Lowenstam conducted field research on the paleoecology of coral reef environments via the Stony Island line of the Chicago street-car system, which dead-ended at an area rich with fossilized coral reefs. This work ultimately resulted in Heinz's discovery of a "massive system of Silurian reefs that stretched from the edge of the Ozark Mountains to Greenland".〔 Lowenstam was aware that the structure of the buried reef complex was an ideal trap for oil and gas; but, instead of exploiting his discovery for financial gain, he published his findings in the open scientific literature where all could reap the benefits. During this time, the University of Chicago had emerged as the birthplace isotope geochemistry, and Harold Urey's research group was making significant advancements in the use of deviations in stable isotopes to measure ancient ocean temperatures. While working as a geologist in Illinois State Geological Survey's Coal, and Stratigraphy and Paleontology Divisions, Heinz was invited to join Harold Urey's group to aid in acquiring fossil materials. He accepted a position as a research associate in geochemistry at the University of Chicago and by 1950, was convinced to accept a faculty position. This position allowed Heinz to" continue his research on Silurian reefs, as well as to extend his search for pristine fossil shell materials, an interest that later paved the way for his studies on biomineralization".〔 In the early 1950s, Caltech and the University of California began the building of their isotope geochemistry programs and their recruitment of young scientists from Urey's group and the geochemists of the Chicago "mafia" to form the core of their departments. By the time Lowenstam accepted his faculty position at Caltech in 1954, many of his colleagues including Harrison Brown, Sam Epstein, Clair Patterson, and even Harold Urey had already made the migration. Under his chosen title as a "paleoecologist" Heinz continued to collaborate with his former research group (Brown, Patterson, and Epstein were all at Caltech), but he also used the opportunity to explore more comprehensive geochemical analyses of fossil formation. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Heinz A. Lowenstam」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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