Carey, Samuel Warren (Warren) (1911 - 2002)

Summary

Warren Carey was a highly-respected geologist who was an early and persuasive advocate of the theory of continental drift. His studies went further, leading him to propose a hypothesis of an expanding earth. Many of his contributions were in advance of accepted views. His ideas were discounted for about 30 years until his theory, by then called plate tectonics, was supported by the discovery of spreading zones in the middle of the oceans. Carey was Professor of Geology at the University of Tasmania from 1946 to 1976. He was a Trustee of the Tasmanian Museum for some years, and served as President of the Geological Society of Australia from 1977 to 1978. Since 1992 the Society has awarded the S. W. Carey Medal to a person distinguished in the field of tectonics.

Details

Chronology

1934

Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Sydney

1934 - 1938

Career position - Geologist with Oil Search Ltd New Guinea and Papua

1938 - 1942

Career position - Senior Geologist with Australasian Petroleum Company Papua

1939

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Sydney

1942 - 1944

Career position - Paratrooper and Captain in the Australian Imperial Forces in New Guinea

1944 - 1946

Career position - Chief Government Geologist in Tasmania

1946 - 1959

Career position - Geological Consultant, Tasmanian Hydro-Electric Commission

1946 - 1976

Career position - Professor of Geology, University of Tasmania

1950 - 1951

Career position - Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Tasmania

1950 - 1952

Career position - Vice-President, Royal Society of Tasmania

1950 - 1955

Career position - Trustee, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

1951 - 1952

Career position - Chairman of Trustees, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

1952 - ?

Career position - Foundation Member, Geological Society of Australia

1954 - 1955

Career position - Chairman, Professorial Board, University of Tasmania

1959 - 1960

Career position - Visiting Professor, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.

1963

Award - Chrestian Mica Gondwanaland Gold Medal, Geological Mining and Metallurgical Institute of India

1967

Award - Clarke Memorial Lecture, Royal Society of New South Wales

1967 - 1968

Career position - Visiting Professor, University of Western Ontario, Canada

1969

Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales Royal Society of New South Wales

1970

Career position - President, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1970

Award - DSc honoris causa, University of Papua New Guinea

1970

Career position - Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Tasmania

1976

Award - R. M. Johnston Memorial Medal, Royal Society of Tasmania

1977

Award - Honorary Doctor of Geological Science, University of Urbino, Italy

1977

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of service to education in the field of geology

1977 - 1978

Career position - President, Geological Society of Australia

1978 -

Career position - Professor Emeritus, University of Tasmania

1982

Award - W. R. Browne Award, Geological Society of Australia

1989 - 2002

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1996

Award - Lewis Weekes Medal, Australian Petroleum Exploration Association

1998

Award - ANZAAS Medal, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1998

Award - Gold Medal, Australian Society of Exploration Geologists

2000

Award - Career Contribution Award, Structural Geology and Tectonics Division, Geological Society of America

Related entries

Archival resources

University of Tasmania Library, Special/Rare Collection

• Samuel Warren Carey - Records, 1947 - 1976, UT.315; University of Tasmania Library, Special/Rare Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Carey, S. Warren, The expanding Earth (Amsterdam: New York: Elsevier, 1976), 488 pp. Details
• Carey, S. Warren, Theories of the earth and universe : a history of dogma in the earth sciences (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1988), 413 pp. Details
• Carey, S. Warren, Sir Edgeworth David Memorial Oration: Knight Errant of Science (Melbourne: Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1990), 74 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Le Grand, H. E., 'Carey, Samuel Warren' in New Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Koertge, Noretta, ed., vol. 2 (Detroit : Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008), pp. 38-43 . Details

Edited Books

• Carey, S. Warren ed., Continental drift : a symposium : being a symposium on the present status of the continental drift hypothesis, held in the Geology Department of the University of Tasmania, in March, 1956 (Hobart: Geology Department, University of Tasmania, 1958), 375 pp. Details
• Carey, S. Warren ed., The expanding earth, a symposium : Earth Resources Foundation, University of Sydney, February 10-14, 1981 (Hobart: University of Tasmania, 1981), 423 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Baillie, P, 'S. Warren Carey: New Guinea oil explorer (1934 - 1942)', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 155 (2) (2021), 55-68, https://doi.org/10.26749/rstpp.155.2.55. Details
• Carey, S. W., 'Edmund Dwen Gill', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria,, 92 (1981), 1-12. Details
• Quilty, Patrick G.; and Banks, Maxwell R., 'Samuel Warren Carey 1911-2002', Historical Records of Australian Science, 14 (3) (2003), 313-335. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR03005. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q195313. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/29595695. Details
• 'Carey, Samuel Warren (Warren) (1911 - 2002)', Fellows of the Academy, Australian Academy of Science, 2019, https://www.science.org.au/profile/sam-carey. Details
• 'Carey, S Warren (1911-2002)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-459002. Details

Resource Sections

• Quilty, Pat, 'Interview with Professor Sam Carey', in Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 1 June 2000, https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/professor-sam-carey-geologist. Details