Gold—A Journey from the Big Bang to the Amazon

Gold is one of the most fascinating of the 5,400 mineral species on Earth and no mineral (or metal) evokes more emotion, but gold also has an incredible scientific story: a gold nugget is made of material that was not born in our planet or even our solar system.

In this talk, world-renowned geophysicist Dr Terry Wallace discusses how the metal was created, how it came to be found on Earth, and the spell it has cast over humankind.  The lecture was broadcast via Zoom on Oct. 3, 2020; the recording is available above.

Terry C. Wallace Jr. was raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico and graduated from Los Alamos High School in 1974. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in geophysics and mathematics from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, followed by a Master of Science and PhD in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology.

From 1983 to 2003, he was a professor at the University of Arizona, but moved back to Los Alamos in 2006 to become their Principal Associate Director for Science, Technology, and Engineering.  From 2011 to 2017, Wallace was the Laboratory’s Principal Associate Director for Global Security. He served as the 11th Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory until his retirement in 2018.