Learning Center – Clair Cameron Patterson

Welcome everyone! My eminent person is Clair Cameron Patterson.

Here is the link to my learning center:

Clair Cameron Patterson Learning Centre (google.com)

Here is a documentary that documents Clair Cameron Patterson, and is where I originally learned of him. I believe you can also find this episode on Disney+, if you have it.

The Clean Room: Inside Look | Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey – YouTube

Thank you for taking the time to view my learning center! Please feel free to ask any questions or to leave any comments on my blog.

11 Comments

  1. Carolyn

    this was super detailed and organized! it’s interesting how he changed our perception of the earth. do you know what drew him to studying this area of science?

    • Braeden

      He was born in a small town in rural Iowa, where he would spend much of his time outside. Being surrounded by farms and untainted nature gave him a very close relationship to the Earth. He also had an innate infatuation with chemistry, and from the first time he tinkered with a little chemistry set in elementary school, he knew that science was his calling. He was always encouraged by his parent to follow his interests in science, and his community was very supportive of his curiosities. He taught himself everything he could about chemistry, and sometimes, the teacher would even allow him to explain part of the lesson. The school would procure any chemicals he needed to conduct his personal inquiry experiments. He was in the perfect environment for a gifted learner to thrive. This all added together is probably what caused his lifelong love with geochemistry.

  2. Sinu

    Hey Braeden,
    First off, I liked that you included a table of contents. It made it really easy to redirect into the topics that looked particularly interesting. I also liked that you included graphs. It was a nice break in between the text.
    Why do you think Clair Cameron Patterson was interested in finding the age of the Earth?

    • Braeden

      Because he loved his work. At the time, the true age of the Earth was a complete mystery, and people had to rely on their best estimates. While a simple question, nobody at the time had a clue as to how they could figure out the age of the Earth. It was a novel challenge, and one that inevitably drew the eye of the greatest geochemists of the times, including Clair Patterson. Also, he was assigned to the task by his project manager at Caltech (California Institute of Technology), giving him further motivation to complete the task.

  3. Hannah

    I loved the design and colour scheme of you website! It made your project look very sleek and it complimented the content well. I also liked how you organized your content. It made it very easy to navigate the site, and it made it very easy to read. One question I have is what do you think would’ve happened if Clair Cameron Patterson hadn’t discovered lead-lead dating?

    • Braeden

      The invention of lead-lead dating was vital to the discovery of the age of the Earth. Without it, he would have had no way to properly analyze his mineral samples, and finding the age of the Earth would have been impossible. Lead-lead dating works by analyzing the different concentrations of different isotopes of lead in a rock. This is how he discovered that his samples were being contaminated with extra lead from leaded gasoline. This alerted him to the lead pollution, prompting him to act, and eventually get lead banned in many products. If Patterson didn’t find lead-lead dating in the first place, his other achievements would never have happened either.

  4. Mandy

    Hey Braeden, you have a great learning center. The format of your website is very engaging and interactive. I liked the pictures and graphs you had, they made your center have some more dimension. Do you think Patterson would’ve continued fighting if he had not won the case?

    • Braeden

      Definitely. He won the case after almost half of his life had passed. He was an old man by the time his research was finally accepted, and I believe he would have kept fighting until the day he died, regardless of what the world thought of him.

  5. Lucas

    Great learning centre Braeden. You did a great job balancing concision and detail. It made for an informative and concise read. I also liked your use of adjectives. It was very engaging and made for an enjoyable read. A question I have is, would we still be using toxic leaded gas if he hadn’t done his research? And how do you believe we can learn from his fight against all odds?

    • Braeden

      The U.S.A. at the time had already planned to phase out of leaded gasoline, as it would cause some engine problems if used long-term; not for health purposes. However, this change would have happened some 15 years after, if Patterson had not gotten involved, and the damage would have extended farther into our present day. I found Patterson’s willingness to lose everything he had, in order to save the rest of us inspiring, but I understand that martyrdom is not for everyone. However, we could still try to emulate his strict adherence to accurate scientific method, his perseverance in the face of defeat, and resourcefulness in the face of danger.

  6. kwasstrom

    Well done Braeden! Patterson was a very interesting and inspiring man. I think it is interesting how you included the information about lead in the air and violent crimes. I hadn’t know that there was any correlation (or causation perhaps) between the two. Additionally, you shared the quote about him not feeling pride, but obligation. How do you think this attitude helps to communicate his eminence?

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