Irving John Duer was an American mining geologist. He was considered one of the foremost representatives of applied geology in the USA.
Background
John Duer was born on August 18, 1874 in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, where his father, one of the pioneers of petrography in America, was professor of geology, mineralogy, and metallurgy in the state university. He was the son of Roland Duer Irving and Abby Louise (McCulloh) Irving.
His formative years were passed in a home where his father was preparing the now famous monographs on the geology of the iron and copper deposits of the Lake Superior region. n his fourteenth year, his father died, and with his mother, he removed to the East, resolved to carry forward his father's work.
Education
Irving entered Columbia in 1892, receiving the degrees of A. B. in 1896, A. M. in 1898 and Ph. D. in 1899. During his summer vacations (1895, 1896, 1897) he engaged in geological work in Utah, northern New York, and the San Juan district of Colorado. For his doctor's dissertation he spent four months in fieldwork in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Career
Upon graduation Irving entered the United States Geological Survey, being classified successively as geologic aid, 1899-1900, assistant geologist, 1900-06, and geologist, 1906-07. While he left active full-time service with the Survey in 1903, he retained his connection for summer work until 1907. The papers published by the Survey of which he was author or co-author include reports on the economic geology of the northern Black Hills of South Dakota (1904), with S. F. Emmons and T. A. Jaggar, Jr. ; Needle Mountains Quadrangle, Colorado (1905); with W. H. Emmons; Ouray District, Colorado (1905), the Downtown District of Leadville, Colo. (1907), with S. F. Emmons; and the Lake City District, Colorado (1911), with Howland Bancroft.
The death of S. F. Emmons in 1911 interfered with plans for the revision of the Leadville report. Irving, from a strong sense of loyalty to the memory of his former superior, undertook the completion of this work. It involved such an enormous amount of exacting and detailed work as almost to exhaust his great patience and strength, and was not completed until shortly before his death.
Meanwhile, still following in his father's footsteps he took up the teacher's career, first as acting professor of mining and geology at the University of Wyoming, 1902-03; then as assistant professor of geology, 1903, and professor of geology, 1906, at Lehigh University; and finally as professor of economic geology at the Sheffield Scientific School (Yale), from 1907. When a group of geologists established in 1905 the magazine Economic Geology, Irving was the unanimous choice for editor.
Despite the fact that he was past forty years of age, when the United States became involved in the World War, he entered the service as captain in the 11th Regiment of Engineers and in July 1917 sailed for France. As instructor in mining at the Army Engineers' School, developing and teaching dugout construction, he rendered invaluable service.
His vitality ran low, and pneumonia following a bad attack of so-called Spanish grippe caused his death.
Personality
He worked long hours with a high sense of devotion to duty. For him his work was a labor of love.
Quotes from others about the person
According to Pirsson, "John was a hard and tireless worker and spared neither time nor pains to make his teaching effective by thorough preparation. .. . Although demanding high ideals of work and thoroughness in its performance from his students, his sympathy, kindness and justice made him not only respected but loved by them".
"Captain Irving died as gloriously as any man in the service ever did, " wrote a superior officer; "he gave all he had. "