House Resolution 124 - Introduced

PAG LIN





  1  1                HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.    
  1  2                       BY  SHOULTZ
  1  3 A Resolution honoring the life and work of Clair Cameron
  1  4    Patterson.
  1  5    WHEREAS, Clair Cameron Patterson was a world=famous
  1  6 geochemist, born in Mitchellville, Iowa, on June 2,
  1  7 1922; and
  1  8    WHEREAS, Mr. Patterson attended a small high school
  1  9 with fewer than 100 students, and later graduated from
  1 10 Grinnell College with a degree in chemistry; and
  1 11    WHEREAS, Clair Patterson then went on to the
  1 12 University of Iowa, where he completed his master of
  1 13 arts thesis in molecular spectroscopy; and
  1 14    WHEREAS, he then went on to work on the Manhattan
  1 15 Project and later received his doctorate degree from
  1 16 the University of Chicago; and
  1 17    WHEREAS, Clair Patterson was an energetic,
  1 18 innovative, determined scientist whose pioneering work
  1 19 stretched across a variety of academic disciplines,
  1 20 including archaeology, meteorology, oceanography, and
  1 21 environmental science, along with chemistry and
  1 22 geology; and
  1 23    WHEREAS, Mr. Patterson is best known for his
  1 24 determination of the age of the earth by using the
  1 25 uranium=lead dating method; in 1953 he calculated the
  1 26 age of the earth as 4.55 billion years, a number that
  1 27 stands to this day; and
  1 28    WHEREAS, beginning in 1965, he drew public
  1 29 attention to the problem of contamination of the
  1 30 environment and the food chain from industrial lead;
  2  1 and
  2  2    WHEREAS, Clair Patterson's efforts led to the
  2  3 enactment of the federal Clean Air Act of 1970, and
  2  4 ultimately the removal of lead from all gasoline in
  2  5 the United States by 1986, lowering the lead level
  2  6 contained in the blood of Americans by some 80
  2  7 percent; NOW THEREFORE,
  2  8    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
  2  9 That the House of Representatives honors the
  2 10 monumental achievements of Iowa native Clair Cameron
  2 11 Patterson, who devoted his life to increasing our
  2 12 knowledge and our awareness of this earth and
  2 13 improving the environment.
  2 14 LSB 6092HH 81
  2 15 jr:nh/sh/8