David J. Stevenson#Sending a probe into the Earth
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{{Infobox scientist
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| name = David John Stevenson
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| image = David J. Stevenson.JPG
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| caption = David J. Stevenson, 2015
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1948|09|02}}
| birth_place = New Zealand
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| fields = Planetary Science
Earth Science
Astrophysics
Geophysics
| workplaces = Caltech
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| alma_mater = Victoria University {{small|(B.S., 1971) (M.S., 1972) (D.Sc)}}
Cornell University {{small|(PhD, 1976)}}
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| doctoral_advisor = Edwin Salpeter
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| awards = H. C. Urey Prize {{small|(1984)}}
Whipple Award {{small|(1994)}}
Harry H. Hess Medal {{small|(1998)}}
Richard P. Feynman Prize {{small|(2001)}}
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David John Stevenson (born 2 September 1948) is a professor of planetary science at Caltech. Originally from New Zealand, he received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in physics, where he proposed a model for the interior of Jupiter. He is well known for applying fluid mechanics and magnetohydrodynamics to understand the internal structure and evolution of planets and moons.
Sending a probe into the Earth
Stevenson's tongue-in-cheek idea about sending a probe into the earth includes the use of nuclear weapons to crack the Earth's crust, simultaneously melting and filling the crack with molten iron containing a probe. The iron, by the action of its weight, will propagate a crack into the mantle and would subsequently sink and reach the Earth's core in weeks. Communication with the probe would be achieved with modulated acoustic waves.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3021255.stm |title=bbc:Plumbing the Earth's depths | work=BBC News | date=May 14, 2003 | accessdate=January 2, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://web.gps.caltech.edu/faculty/stevenson/coremission/mission_to_core_(annot).pdf |title=A Modest Proposal: Mission to Earth's Core |access-date=2009-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625172421/http://web.gps.caltech.edu/faculty/stevenson/coremission/mission_to_core_(annot).pdf |archive-date=2010-06-25 |url-status=dead }} This idea was used in the book Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception.
Honors and awards
In 1984, he received the H. C. Urey Prize awarded by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society.
Stevenson is a fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.{{Cite web|title=Origin of the moon {{!}} Royal Society|url=https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2013/origin-moon/|access-date=2021-02-21|website=royalsociety.org|language=en-gb}}
Minor planet 5211 Stevenson is named in his honor.{{cite book|url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-540-29925-7_5048 |title=(5211) Stevenson In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |chapter=(5211) Stevenson |publisher=Springer |date=2003 |pages=448 |isbn=978-3-540-29925-7 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_5048}}
See also
References and sources
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External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20180827163936/http://www.gps.caltech.edu/content/david-j-dave-stevenson Web Site at Caltech]
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Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Category:21st-century American astronomers
Category:Cornell University alumni