Robert Hutchison
The Natural History Museum curator who wrote a standard textbook on meteorites and helped compile the world catalogue of meteorites.
Key facts
- Born
- 1938
- Died
- 2007
- Nationality
- British
- Field
- Meteoriticist and curator
Robert Hutchison studied geology and joined the Natural History Museum in London in 1969. He became curator of meteorites there and looked after one of the world's great collections until he retired in 1997.
With Alex Bevan and Andrew Graham, he compiled the fourth edition of the Catalogue of Meteorites, published in 1985. This reference lists every meteorite known in the world, with its date, type and where samples are held, and it was a basic tool for every researcher.
Hutchison studied ordinary chondrites in detail, especially how chondrules formed and how heating inside asteroids changed them. He wrote a popular book on what meteorites reveal about our origins, published in 1983, and in 2004 a major textbook on the petrology, chemistry and isotopes of meteorites, used by research students around the world.
He was known for his careful, critical approach and his generosity in sharing samples and knowledge. His work helped keep the London collection at the centre of international research, and an asteroid is named after him.