Register      Login
Historical Records of Australian Science Historical Records of Australian Science Society
The history of science, pure and applied, in Australia, New Zealand and the southwest Pacific
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > HR > HR24009
EDITORIAL
Online Early

Stuart Ross Taylor 1925–2021

Scott M. McLennan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4259-7178 A * and Roberta L. Rudnick B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2100, USA.

B Department of Earth Science and Earth Research Institute, University of California – Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

* Correspondence to: scott.mclennan@stonybrook.edu

Historical Records of Australian Science https://doi.org/10.1071/HR24009
Published online: 5 July 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science.

Abstract

Stuart Ross Taylor, born and raised in New Zealand, spent most of his career at the Australian National University where his laboratory research focused on trace element geochemistry. He made fundamental contributions toward understanding the composition and evolution of the Moon and Earth, the origin of tektites and solar system evolution. He carried out the first-ever chemical analyses of Apollo 11 lunar samples. Ross Taylor received many awards and honours and was a Companion of the Order of Australia.

Keywords: continental crust, cosmochemistry, geochemistry, lunar science, mass spectrometry, planetary science, solar system, spectrochemical analysis, tektites, trace elements.

References

Ahrens, L. H. and Taylor, S. R. (1961) Spectrochemical Analysis, 2nd edn, Addison-Wesley Publishing, Reading, MA.

Burke, K. (1990) 1989 Bowen Award to Ross Taylor, EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 71, 301.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Cooper, H. S. F. (1970) Moon Rocks, Dial, New York.

Crompton, B. (2000) Interviews with Australian scientists: Professor Ross Taylor, geochemist, Australian Academy of Science, https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/professor-ross-taylor-geochemist, viewed May 2024.
| Google Scholar |

Gardner, W. J., Beardsley, E. T., and Carter, T. E. (1973) A History of the University of Canterbury 1873-1973, University of Canterbury (Claxton Press), Christchurch, NZ.

Hamilton, W. (1773) Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna and Other Volcanos, T. Cadell, London.

Hartmann, W. K., Phillips, R. J., and Taylor, G. J. (eds) (1986) Origin of the Moon, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.

Hofmann, A. W. (2003) Taylor receives the 2002 Walter H. Bucher Medal, EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 84, 65.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lindsay, H. (2001) Tracking Apollo to the Moon, Springer-Verlag, London.

Lunar Sample Preliminary Examination Team  (1969) Preliminary examination of lunar samples from Apollo 11, Science, 165, 1211-1227.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Marvin, U. B. (2002) Oral histories in meteoritics and planetary science: VI. Stuart Ross Taylor, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 37(Supplement), B47-B56.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Mason, B. (1952) Principles of Geochemistry, John Wiley & Sons, New York.

Mason, B. (1992) Victor Moritz Goldschmidt: Father of Modern Geochemistry, Geochemical Society Special Publication No. 4, The Geochemical Society, San Antonio, TX.

Mason, B. H. (1994) Introduction of S. Ross Taylor for the 1993 V. M. Goldschmidt Award, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 58, 3757.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Mason, B., and Taylor, S. R. (1955) The petrology of the Arahura and Pounamu Series in the Kokatahi River, North Westland, Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 82, 1061-1070.
| Google Scholar |

Mason, B. and Taylor, S. R. (1982) Inclusions in the Allende meteorite, Smithsonian Contributions to Earth Science, No. 25, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.

McLennan, S. M. and Rudnick, R. L. (eds) (1992) The Taylor Colloquium: Origin and Evolution of Planetary Crusts, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Special Issue, vol. 56, No. 3, pp. 871–1064.

McLennan, S. M., and Rudnick, R. L. (2021) Stuart Ross Taylor (1925-2021): a tribute to his life and scientific career, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 56, 1784-1791.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

McLennan, S., McCulloch, M., and Rudnick, R. (1990) The Taylor Colloquium: origin and evolution of planetary crusts, Canberra, Australia, 1–2 October 1990, Episodes, 13, 187-188.
| Google Scholar |

Paterson, M. (1980) John Conrad Jaeger 1907-1979, Historical Records of Australian Science, 5(3), 64-88.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Rickard, M. J. (2010) Geology at ANU (1959-2009): 50 Years of History and Reminiscences, ANU E-Press, Canberra.

RSES (1981) Research School of Earth Sciences Annual Report 1981, The Australian National University.

RSES (2015) Research School of Earth Sciences Annual Report 2015, The Australian National University.

Rudnick, R. L., and Taylor, S. R. (1987) The composition and petrogenesis of the lower crust – A xenolith study, Journal of Geophysical Research–Solid Earth, 92, 13981-14005.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Schnetzler, C. C. (1970) The lunar origin of tektites: R.I.P, Meteoritics, 5, 221-222.
| Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. (1950) The Geology of the Stonyhurst district, North Canterbury, New Zealand, MSc Thesis, 2 Vol. and Map, Canterbury University College, Christchurch.

Taylor, S. R. (1954) Geochemistry of Some New Zealand Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks, PhD Thesis, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Taylor, S. R. (1964) Abundance of chemical elements in the continental crust: a new table, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 28, 1273-1285.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. (1965) Geochemical analysis by spark source mass spectrography, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 29, 1243-1261.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. (1967) The origin and growth of continents, Tectonophysics, 4, 17-34.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. (1973) Tektites: a post-Apollo view, Earth Science Reviews, 9, 101-123.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. (1975) Lunar Science: a Post-Apollo View, Pergamon Press, New York.

Taylor, S. R. (1982) Planetary Science: a Lunar Perspective, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.

Taylor, S. R. (1989) Growth of planetary crusts, Tectonophysics, 161, 147-156.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. (1992) Solar System Evolution: a New Perspective, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Taylor, S. R. (1994a) Pieces of another world, Sky & Space, 7(4), 24-27.
| Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. (1994b) Acceptance speech for the 1993 V.M. Goldschmidt Award, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 58, 3759-3760.
| Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. (1998) Destiny or Chance: Our Solar System and its Place in the Cosmos, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.

Taylor, S. R. (2001) Solar System Evolution: a New Perspective, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Taylor, S. R. (2012) Destiny or Chance Revisited: Planets and Their Place in the Cosmos, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Taylor, S. R. (2016) Tektites, Apollo, the crust, and planets: A life with trace elements, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science, 44, 1-15.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. (2019) The Moon: A personal recollection and memorial for Professor Lawrence A. Taylor, an Apollo stalwart, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 266, 9-16.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R., and Bence, A. E. (1975) Evolution of the lunar highland crust, Proceedings of the Lunar Science Conference, 6, 1121-1141.
| Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R., and Jakeš, P. (1974) The geochemical evolution of the Moon, Proceedings of the Fifth Lunar Science Conference, 2, 1287-1306.
| Google Scholar |

Taylor, S. R. and McLennan, S. M. (1985) The Continental Crust: Its Composition and Evolution, Blackwell, Oxford.

Taylor, S. R. and McLennan, S. M. (2009) Planetary Crusts: Their Composition, Origin and Evolution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Taylor, S. R., and White, A. J. R. (1965) Geochemistry of andesites and the growth of continents, Nature, 208, 271-273.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Thornbury, W. D. (ed.) (1953) Geology News Letter No. 2, Department of Geology, Indiana University.

Urey, H. C. (1952) The Planets: Their Origin and Development, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

Vincent, E. A. (1994) Geology and Mineralogy at Oxford 1860-1986: History and Reminiscence, Privately Published from Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford.