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George Shirley Switzer (June 11, 1915 – March 23, 2008) was an American mineralogist who is credited with starting the Smithsonian Institution's famed National Gem and Mineral Collection by acquiring the Hope Diamond for the museum in 1958. Switzer made the arrangements when renowned New York City jeweler Harry Winston decided to donate the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian.〔 Switzer was also known for his analysis of moon rocks which were brought back by NASA missions to the Moon.〔 Today, the National Gem and Mineral Collection at the National Museum of Natural History currently contains more than 15,000 individual gems in the collection, as well as 350,000 minerals and 300,000 samples of rock and ore specimens.〔 Additionally, the Smithsonian's National Gem and Mineral Collection houses approximately 35,000 meteorites, constituting what is considered to be one of the most comprehensive collections of its kind in the world.〔 ==Early life== George Switzer was born in Petaluma, California on June 11, 1915. He was the son of Albert and Charlotte Ryan Switzer.〔 Switzer first attended Santa Rosa Junior College before earning his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1937.〔 He then obtained his master's degree in mineralogy from Harvard University in 1939.〔 He continued at Harvard and earned his doctorate from the University in 1942.〔 He worked as a professor both at Stanford University from 1939 to 1940, and at Harvard University from 1940 to 1945.〔 Switzer tried to enlist in the United States military during World War II, but a recruiter reportedly told him that his years of education could be put to better use elsewhere.〔 So during the war, he also worked as a crystallographer for Majestic Radio & TV Corp., where he worked keeping aircraft radio frequencies up and running.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Switzer (mineralogist)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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