Quick Facts
Biography
Richard Foster Flint (1 March 1902 -6 June 1976) was an American geologist.
Biography
He was born in Chicago on 1 March 1902.
Flint graduated from the University of Chicago and earned his Ph.D. in geology at the University of California graduating in 1925. He then joined Yale as a member of the faculty, becoming a full professor in 1945.
Flint was recognized for his leadership role in Quaternary period geology with extensive work on effects of glaciations in northeastern America.
He also performed research in Washington State to understand the last ice age’s impact on the Northwest, gaining some notoriety for his opposition to the Missoula Floods hypothesis, which was posed by J Harlen Bretz. He presented a detailed and thoughtful argument against the possibility of catastrophic floods; a position which has subsequently fallen into disfavor based on a wide collection of evidence.
He died on 6 June 1976 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Major publications include
- Outlines of Physical Geology, 1941
- Introduction to Geology, 1962
- Radiocarbon measurements, 1967
- Glacial Geology and the Pleistocene Epoch (Glacial and Pleistocene Geology), 1957
- Glacial and Quaternary Geology, 1971
Honors
- In 1972 he was awarded the Prestwich Medal, a medal awarded by the Geological Society of London, for significant contributions in the science of Geology.