Turekian reflections

Karl Karekin Turekian (1927–2013) was a man of remarkable scientific breadth, with innumerable important contributions to marine geochemistry, atmospheric chemistry, cosmochemistry, and global geochemical cycles. He was mentor to a long list of students, postdoctorate scholars, and faculty (at Yale and elsewhere), a leader in geochemistry, a prolific author and editor, and had a profound influence in shaping his department at Yale University. Karl was a true scholar and interested in everything, scientific and nonscientific. As his Yale colleague George Veronis reflected, “Karl plunged into any topic, very often far removed from his own specialty, and had heated discussions about all kinds of issues. His discussions were heated because that’s how he got himself worked up to carry on the way he did. Very often he would say something like, ‘I don’t know anything about so and so,’ when a topic was raised, and quite often he didn’t. He wanted to learn, and his own ignorance would not deter him from carrying on.” Karl’s autobiography (1) and a recent interview (2) tell his story far better than we can and make clear his vast contributions to science, especially his role in the development and advancement of the field of geochemistry. What is especially notable about Karl is his impact on people, the unanimity of the love for Karl by all who knew him well, and his unique character. We’d like to recount a little of what it was like to be on the receiving end of his warmth and wisdom. Karl Karekin Turekian. As he has written (1), Karl began adult life by joining the Navy at the age of 17 on July 4, 1945, after a semester at Wheaton College. Fortunately for the field of geochemistry, VJ day came while he was still in boot camp. The GI Bill, …