FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[John S. White]

The world has lost one of it's preeminent earth scientists. Dr. Brian H. Mason died on Dec. 3 at his home in Maryland, USA, age 92. His many contributions to our understanding of the natural world relate mostly to his work with meteorites. However his 1952 book "Principles of Geochemistry" is the finest textbook that I have ever read. He came to the Smithsonian in 1965, two years after I did, and he was a revered colleague for as long as I worked there. He encouraged me to publish and my first paper to appear in the American Mineralogist, "Secondary minerals produced by weathering of the Wolf Creek meteorite" was largely the result of his efforts, yet he insisted that I be the primary author.

In many ways the excellence of his science and the elegance of his writing earned him the highest regard among his fellow earth scientists. I am sure that there will be numerous tributes to my former friend published in the coming months.

[keldjarn]

With the passing of Dr. Brian Mason geology and mineralogy has lost another of the great scientists and teachers of the 20th century.
He also had a rare mineral from the famous Långban deposit named after him. The mineral is named "Stenhuggarite". You probably have to be a Scandinavian to see the connection. "Stenhuggar" is the Swedish name for "stone mason".
Enclosed is a picture of a small specimen of this very rare mineral from my collection.