T. C. Chamberlin, climate change, and cosmogony

This paper examines the life and work of T. C. Chamberlin, a prominent glac ial geologist who developed an interest in interdisciplinary earth science. His work on the geological agency of the atmosphere informed his understan ding of climate change and other terrestrial phenomena and led him to propo se a new theory of the formation of the Earth and the solar system. Chamberlin's graduate seminar at the University of Chicago in 1896 containe d all the themes that informed his research programme over the next three d ecades. These included the carbon dioxide theory of climate change in its r elationship to diastrophism and oceanic circulation, the role of water vapo ur feedbacks in the climate system, and the relationship between multiple g laciations, the climate system, and the formation of the planet. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.