Meyer Rubin (February 17, 1924 – May 2, 2020) was an American geologist known for his radiocarbon dating work with the United States Geological Survey.
Early career After graduating from Englewood High School, South Side, Chicago, in 1941, he attended the Woodrow Wilson Junior College, Chicago (now the Kennedy–King College). In the spring of 1943, Rubin enlisted into a University of Chicago run pre-meteorology training program (class "B") for the United States Army Air Forces (AAF); active duty effective March 3, 1943. Basic training was at Fort Sheridan with classes held at the University of Michigan. Rubin finished his training in September 1943, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He was shipped off first to Port Moresby, New Guinea, and then later to the Philippines, to help forecast weather for AAF long range flights in the Pacific Theater of World War II. After Japan surrendered, Rubin was sent to Tokyo as part of the post war occupation. Rubin returned to the States in 1946 and attended, on the G.I. Bill, the University of Chicago, from which he earned his bachelor’s and master's degree, and later his Ph.D. in Geology (Prof. Leland Horberg, advisor). Rubin joined the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C., on June 14, 1950, as a member of the Branch of Military Geology, then led by Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.
Radiocarbon laboratory In 1952, Hans E. Suess was hired by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to set up a radiocarbon dating laboratory in Washington, D.C. and built the radiocarbon apparatus in a basement space in the GSA Building (former Department of the Interior Building) located at 1800 F St., NW. A basement space was needed due to the extreme mass of the two steel and lead shielded counter assemblies. In early 1953, Corrine Alexander joined the radiocarbon project, followed by Rubin in December of the same year. Routine radiocarbon 14C measurements were begun in the summer of 1953. Willard Libby, inventor of the 14C dating method and 1960 Nobel Prize winner used a solid carbon method for sample determination, whereas Suess, upon seeing Libby's method in Chicago knew that he would try the gas, acetylene C2H2, as he had success with acetylene in the 1930s in Germany for other radiochemical determinations. This was a significant step as it allowed more efficient counting and easy movement of the counting material between the extraction apparatus, gas purification line and the two counters. Rubin initially assisted in the acetylene preparation, and as a geologist provided valuable input on the selection of samples and interpretation of results. In the first two years, the laboratory produced approximately 200 14C age determinations, which were critically important to unravel the various details of the most recent Pleistocene glaciation, the Wisconsin stage, among other geological problems. Rubin became director of the USGS Radiocarbon Laboratory in 1955 when Suess left to set up a new laboratory at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA. The next few years at the USGS were devoted to perfecting the acetylene technique and applying it to a multitude of geological and archaeological research. Rubin continued his research on the Wisconsin glacial stage and used the results for his doctoral dissertation, earning his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1956. In 1973, Rubin and the laboratory moved into a newly built USGS national headquarters in Reston, Virginia. Rubin kept a room full of samples in the lab as part of the "tour," which included samples he said were wood relics from King Solomon's mines and the Queen of Sheba's palace, linen wraps from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and a large piece of whale baleen. He also kept a guest book he would ask visitors to sign.
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