[Geysers] Obituary: Dr. Irving Friedman

[Ralph Taylor]

I just heard today that Irving Friedman, a retired member of the USGS who
frequently worked in Yellowstone, died recently.

 

Details are available at HYPERLINK
"http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=728"http://www.usgs.gov/newsroo
m/article.asp?ID=728

 

>From the USGS site:

 

Irving Friedman, a longtime U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist and a
pioneer in geochemistry, died on June 28, at the age of 85. 

Friedman was born in New York City on January 12, 1920. He obtained a B.S.
degree in chemistry from Montana State University, a M.S. degree in
chemistry from Washington State University, and a Ph.D. in geochemistry at
the University of Chicago. Friedman was a member of the famed group of post
doctoral researchers in Nobel laureate Harold Urey’s laboratory at the
Institute for Nuclear Studies at the University of Chicago. There, Friedman
built the first mass spectrometer for routine measurement of the hydrogen
isotope composition of water. Hydrogen has two stable isotopes and much can
be deduced about the history of water from their proportions. Friedman is
called the "father of isotope hydrology." 

Friedman joined the Navy in 1944 and was assigned to the Naval Electronics
Laboratory in Washington, D.C. In 1952, he joined the USGS in Washington,
D.C., and worked for the USGS for more than 43 years. In 1962, he moved to
Lakewood, Colo., when the Isotope Geology Branch of the USGS was created.
Friedman retired from the USGS in 1995, and remained active as an emeritus
scientist.

His scientific career was a pursuit of the understanding of every aspect of
the water cycle. Throughout his career, he studied water in oceans, rivers,
lakes, glaciers, the atmosphere, magmas, minerals, rocks, meteorites,
plants, animals and the moon. He made major contributions to a number of
fields through application of stable isotope geochemistry. Friedman also
made significant contributions to the development of instruments to detect
helium in exploring uranium, thorium, petroleum and natural gas and in
predicting earthquakes. In the 1940s, he made major contributions to the
science of hydrothermal growth of quartz which made possible the development
of the synthetic quartz industry.

His scientific work was featured in more than 200 publications. His first
was published in 1945 and his last will be published this year in a USGS
Professional Paper on Yellowstone. He was long associated with study of
geothermal features and water issues of Yellowstone National Park.

Friedman received several awards and honors during his lifetime. He received
the Department of Interior Meritorious Service Award and the Congressional
Antarctic Medal. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Geochemical Society
in 2002. And he was recently honored by the Society for California
Archaeology for his role in the development of obsidian hydration dating, a
technique that revolutionized the dating of obsidian artifacts in western
North America. 

He married Rita Vicary in 1946, and she survives him. His interests included
skiing, flying his own plane, and traveling with Rita.

 

Ralph Taylor


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