In the wake of World War 2, Clair Patterson embarked on a scientific quest to find out how old the Earth really is. His hard work paid off, but it also revealed a modern danger.
Hosted by: Reid Reimers
----------
Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Adam Brainard, Alex Hackman, Ash, Bryan Cloer, charles george, Chris Mackey, Chris Peters, Christoph Schwanke, Christopher R Boucher, Eric Jensen, Harrison Mills, Jaap Westera, Jason A, Saslow, Jeffrey Mckishen, Jeremy Mattern, Kevin Bealer, Matt Curls, Michelle Dove, Piya Shedden, Rizwan Kassim, Sam Lutfi
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow
Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow
#SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly
----------
Sources
https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Archive/April-2018/Buffon-the-geologist
https://www.americanscientist.org/article/kelvin-perry-and-the-age-of-the-earth
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/94569/clair-patterson-scientist-who-determined-age-earth-and-then-saved-it
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucfbpve/geotopes/indexch5.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0016703756900369?via%3Dihub
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935198938610?via%3Dihub
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/32/1/OH_Patterson.pdf
https://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/patterson-clair-c.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20110603055318/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/08/us/clair-c-patterson-who-established-earth-s-age-is-dead-at-73.html
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucfbpve/geotopes/indexch5.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4961898/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metal_cube_lead.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Museo_del_Foro_de_Caesaragusta_en_Zaragoza_39.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lingotesplomocarthagonova.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buffon_1707-1788.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_William_Thomson,_Baron_Kelvin_by_T._%26_R._Annan_%26_Sons.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bagian_Dalam_Bumi.jpg
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/radiometric-age-dating.htm
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hanford_B-Reactor_Area_1944.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TrinityDetonation1945GIF.gif
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fr_Decay_chain_Uranium_238.svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zircon_grain_(CL-SEM_imaging).tiff
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Granite_36_%2849201190367%29.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Meteorito_Mar%C3%ADlia.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pallasite-Esquel-RoyalOntarioMuseum-Jan18-09.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mass_Spectrometer_at_NIH_(24549823931).jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RussieProvenanceMiask_Ref2010.34.574_Mus%C3%A9umHistoireNaturelleLille_GLAM2016_Photo.F.Lamiot_5.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lead_Gooseneck.png
https://www.phy.anl.gov/fma/#:~:text=The%20Fragment%20Mass%20Analyzer%20(FMA,q)%20at%20the%20focal%20plane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Decreased_Brain_Volume_from_Lead_Exposure.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grosvenor_Museums_-_Wasserr%C3%B6hren.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EthylCorporationSign.jpg