July 16, 2004
Awards for Brush and Morrison
NCSE is proud and delighted to congratulate Stephen G. Brush and David Morrison -- both members of NCSE -- on their recent prestigious awards.
Stephen G. Brush, Distinguished University Professor of the History of Science at the University of Maryland and a Supporter of NCSE, was named as the 2004 recipient of the Geological Society of America's History of Geology Award. In addition to his three-volume history of modern planetary physics, the announcement in the newsletter of GSA's History of Geology division mentioned his classic 1982 paper "Finding the Age of the Earth: By Physics or by Faith?" (Journal of Geological Education 30: 34-58), describing it as "a marvelous critique of claims by creationists that the Earth is only a few thousand years old, coupled with an exposition of the radiometric dating method." His award will be presented at the GSA's annual meeting in Denver on November 6, 2004.
The American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) has awarded its 2004 Carl Sagan Medal to NASA scientist David Morrison. The Sagan Medal is awarded annually by the DPS, the world's largest organization of planetary scientists, to an active member researcher for long-term excellence in communicating planetary science to the public. Throughout his distinguished science career as an expert on solar system small bodies and as an investigator for numerous spacecraft missions, including Voyager and Galileo, Morrison has enthusiastically dedicated himself to sharing the excitement of planetary exploration with the public. He will receive the award at the organization's annual meeting to be held November 8-12, 2004, in Louisville, Kentucky. Presently the senior scientist for the NASA Astrobiology Institute, Morrison recently contributed a pair of articles on astrobiology -- "The Astrobiological Perspective on Life's Origin" and "Astrobiology and the Search for Alien Life" -- to Reports of the NCSE.
(San Francisco Chronicle on Morrison's award)