English geophysicist

Geophysicist S.K. Runcorn made significant contributions to the understanding of several areas within his field, including Earth's magnetism and the theory of continental drift. During the 1950s, he helped establish the discipline of paleomagnetism—the study of the intensity and direction of residual magnetization found in ancient rocks. Later, his research encompassed lunar magnetism. Runcorn published prolifically, with the publication of more than 180 papers and editing over two dozen books.

Stanley Keith Runcorn was born on November 19, 1922 in Southport, England. He was the eldest of two children born to William Henry Runcorn, a businessman, and Lily Idina Roberts Runcorn. As Runcorn related to contributor Linda Wasmer Smith in a letter, "My interest in science as a child was certainly stimulated… by excellent maths and physics teaching in my grammar school." In 1941, Runcorn began studies at Gonville and Caius College...