Voices of Science

John Dewey (1937- ), geologist, completed his PhD on geological structures in western Ireland in the late 1950s, in the context of pre-plate tectonics understandings of the Earth. He is best known for his work from the late 1960s on the correspondence between new and ancient mountain belts either side of the Atlantic Ocean, confirming the revelation of moving plates(and therefore an opening Atlantic). In particular, he has developed detailed understanding of the structure and formation of the Caledonian/Appalachian mountain system in order to understand relations between plate tectonics and orogeny (mountain building). John has held posts in the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Durham, but has spent a substantial part of his career in the US, at State University of New York at Albany and the University of California at Davis, working on a variety of geological problems. He continues to work actively after formal retirement, with offices in the University of Oxford and the Natural History Museum, London; he also paints and builds realistic models of Swiss railways.