George Perkins Merrill

{{Infobox scientist

|name = George P. Merrill

|image = George P. Merrill, head curator of the National Museum, with the largest perfect crystal globe in the world, Washington, D.C. (cropped).jpg

|caption =

|birth_date = {{birth date|1854|05|31|mf=y}}

|birth_place = Auburn, Maine

|death_date = {{death date and age|1929|08|15|1854|05|31|mf=y}}

|death_place = Auburn, Maine

|spouse = {{Plainlist|

{{Marriage|Sarah Farrington|November 19, 1883|1894|end=d.}}
{{Marriage|Katherine Lulalia Yancey|February 13, 1900}}

}}

|nationality = American

|relations =

|field = {{plain list|

Geology

}}

|alma_mater = University of Maine

|workplaces = Columbian University, National Museum of Natural History

|awards =

|doctoral_advisor =

|academic_advisors =

|notable_students =

|known_for =

|signature = Signature of George Perkins Merrill.png

}}

George Perkins Merrill (May 31, 1854 – August 15, 1929) was an American geologist, 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 of the Smithsonian Institution).{{cite web|title=George P. Merrill|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_8014|work=Smithsonian Institution Archives|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=19 March 2013}}

Biography

George Perkins Merrill was born in Auburn, Maine on May 31, 1854.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXBGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA34-IA3 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=VIII |publisher=James T. White & Company |page=35 |year=1924 |access-date=2021-01-15 |via=Google Books}} He was educated at the University of Maine (B.S., 1879; Ph.D., 1889), took a post-graduate courses of study and was assistant in chemistry at Wesleyan University, Connecticut (1879–1880), and subsequently studied at Johns Hopkins (1886–1887).

In 1881 he became assistant curator at the National Museum, Washington, D.C.{{cite web|author=Merrill Gates|title=Men of mark in America; ideals of American life told in biographies of eminent living Americans (Volume 2)|url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/merrill-edwards-gates/men-of-mark-in-america-ideals-of-american-life-told-in-biographies-of-eminent-l-eta/page-16-men-of-mark-in-america-ideals-of-american-life-told-in-biographies-of-eminent-l-eta.shtml|date=1906|pages=16}} He also served as professor of geology and mineralogy at the Corcoran Scientific School of Columbian University (now George Washington University) from 1893 to 1916, and was appointed head curator of the department of geology at the National Museum in 1897. In 1922 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.{{Cite web |title=George P. Merrill |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001591.html |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=www.nasonline.org}} He was elected to the American Philosophical Society the following year.{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=George+P.+Merrill&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}} He wrote many periodical contributions, especially on meteorites. His assistants included Edgar T. Wherry and Margaret W. Moodey.{{Cite book|last=United States National Museum.|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001688206|title=Handbook and descriptive catalogue of the collections of gems and precious stones in the United States National museum|last2=Wherry|first2=Edgar Theodore|last3=Moodey|first3=Margaret W.|last4=Merrill|first4=George P.|date=1922|publisher=Govt. Print. Off.|series=Smithsonian institution. United States National museum. Bulletin 118|location=Washington}}

In 1897 Merrill proposed the term regolith 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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40848102/the-boston-globe/ |title=Dr G. P. Merrill Succumbs Suddenly |newspaper=The Boston Globe |location=Auburn, Maine |page=3 |date=1929-08-16 |access-date=2021-01-15 |via=Newspapers.com}} The grave marker is engraved:

{{Poemquote|Search for truth is the

noblest occupation of man

Its publication a duty}}

Publications

His chief publications are:

Stones for Building and Decoration (1891; third edition, 1903{{Cite book | url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005735530 |title = Stones for building and decoration|publisher = J. Wiley & sons; Chapman & Hall, limited|year = 1903}})
A Treatise on Rocks, Rock-Weathering, and Soils (1897; second edition, 1906){{Cite book | url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001488041 |title = A treatise on rocks, rock-weathering and soils|publisher = The Macmillan company; Macmillan & co.|year = 1897}}
The Non-Metallic Minerals (1904; second edition, 1910){{Cite book | url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001487848 |title = The non-metallic minerals: Their occurrence and uses|publisher = Wiley ; Chapman & Hall|year = 1904}}
The Fossil Forests of Arizona (1911); 23 pages including illustrations{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-eQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA311 |title = The American Museum Journal|year = 1913}}
The First Hundred Years of American Geology (1924){{cite journal|author=James F. Kemp|authorlink=James Furman Kemp|title=Review: The First Hundred Years of American Geology by George P. Merrill|journal=The American Historical Review|date=April 1925|volume=30|issue=3|pages=616–619|jstor=1835613|doi=10.2307/1835613|hdl=2027/mdp.39015069825936|hdl-access=free}}

Notes

External links

[http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217334 1854-1929, George P. Merrill Collection, circa 1800-1930 and undated]
[http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217840 George P. Merrill Collection, 1889-1925 and undated]
{{Find a Grave|40314588}}

Category:American science writers

Category:Wesleyan University alumni

Category:Wesleyan University faculty

Category:George Washington University faculty

Category:Smithsonian Institution people

Category:American curators

Category:People from Auburn, Maine

Category:American geologists

Category:1854 births

Category:1929 deaths

Category:University of Maine alumni

Category:Writers from Maine