Amadeus William Grabau was a German-American paleontologist and geologist who was born on January 9, 1870 in Cedarburg, Wisconsin in the United States and died on March 20, 1946 in Peking, China. He was employed as faculty at MIT and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 1901 he became a professor at Columbia University in New York and he later become professor at Peking National University in 1919. As part of his life's work, he conducted a geologic survey of China, and is now known as the father of Chinese geology. He was also a prolific author, publishing at least 10 books in the first half of the 20th century. Grabau developed various theories during his lifetime, among them the theory of rhythms concerning the growth of the earth's crust and a theory concerning mountain building and creation. The Dorsum Grabau, a wrinkle ridge on the Moon is named after him. For a biography of Grabau and his wife, the Jewish writer Mary Antin, see "A Romance in Natural History: The Lives and Works of Amadeus Grabau and Mary Antin," by Allan Mazur, Syracuse University.
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In 1936, Grabau was awarded the Mary Clark Thompson Medal from the National Academy of Sciences for most important service to geology and paleontology.[1]
A list of books written by Grabau, and their publication dates.[2]