'Reginald Aldworth Daly' (
March 18,
1871 –
September 19,
1957) was a
Canadian geologist. He was a professor at
Harvard University from 1912 until
1942, after working as a field geologist for the
Canadian International Boundary Commission.
He examined the rocks along a 400 miles stretch at the
49th parallel, which led him to formulate a theory of the origins of
igneous rocks, and published his seminal work ''Igneous Rocks and Their Origin'' in 1914. According to
Bill Bryson's "
A Short History of Nearly Everything," he was an early proponent of both
Arthur Holmes'
Continental drift theory and the
impact theory of lunar creation.
Daly was awarded the
Penrose Medal in 1935 and the
William Bowie Medal in
1946.
Craters on
Mars and the
Moon are named in his honor, and his Cambridge house (the
Reginald A. Daly House) is now a
National Historic Landmark.