Gerald Wasserburg

Gerald Wasserburg was an American geochemist at Caltech who specialized in isotope geochemistry and cosmochemistry. He and his collaborators developed a series of high-precision mass spectrometers that revolutionized the measurement of isotopic ratios in geological and extraterrestrial samples.

'Lunatic I' was the nickname for the first of Gerald Wasserburg's custom-built high-precision mass spectrometers at Caltech. Subsequent instruments and the laboratory itself were collectively known as the 'Lunatic Asylum,' a humorous name that became famous in the geochemistry community.

Gerald Wasserburg spent his career at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. His lab at Caltech became a world-leading center for isotope geochemistry and cosmochemistry research.

Wasserburg and his team analyzed lunar samples brought back by the Apollo missions using their high-precision mass spectrometers. Their isotopic measurements of moon rocks helped determine the age and formation history of the Moon, making fundamental contributions to planetary science.