William Jack Rink is Professor of Earth Sciences at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Geology from Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. His research encompasses both fundamental studies of radiation exposure dating methods and applications of electron spin resonance, uranium series dating, and luminescence dating of archaeological sites in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America, and geochronology of near-shore and ancient coastal geomorphologic features. He was elected to the New York City Explorer’s Club in 2005. Jeroen W. Thompson is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences at McMaster University. He holds a B.Sc. in Physics and a B.Sc. in Anthropology (Michigan State University), as well as a M.Sc. in Physics (University of Connecticut) and a Ph.D. in Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences (McMaster University). His research is highly interdisciplinary, including diverse applications of radiation dosimetry and detection that span laboratory and field work. In particular, he has applied electron paramagnetic resonance and optically-stimulated luminescence dosimetry both forensic dosimetry and geochronology. He is currently a research management consultant, with specific focus on radiation and environmental sciences.

Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods wins GSIS Mary B. Ansari Best 2016 Reference Work Award The Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods has been selected to receive the 2016 GSIS Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award. J.W. Jack Rink and Jeroen W. Thompson are the editors of this reference work published by Springer in 2015. The Geoscience Information Society has presented the GSIS Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award annually since 1988. The award honors an outstanding reference work published in the field of geoscience information during the previous three years.

• Acasta Gneiss Complex.- Accelerator Mass Spectrometry.- Age of the Earth.- Alpha Spectroscopy.- Alpine Terranes (K-Ar/Ar-Ar).- Amino Acid.- Amino Acid Racemization Dating.- Amino Acid Racemization, Biostratigraphy.- Amino Acid Racemization, Coastal Sediments.- Amino Acid Racemization, Eolianites.- Amino Acid Racemization, Fluvial and Lacustrine Sediments (AAR).- Amino Acid Racemization, Marine Sediments.- Amino Acid Racemization, Paleoclimate.- Ancient Inks: A Forensic Art Historical Perspective.- Apatite.- Aquifer Characteristics (U-Series).- Ar–Ar and K–Ar Dating.- Archaeomagnetic Dating.- Band Structure.- Beta Counter.- Big Bang.- Biostratigraphy.- Bivalve Sclerochronology.- Bomb Carbon.- Bones (U-Series).- 14C in Plant Macrofossils.- Carbonates, Lacustrine (U-Series).- Carbonates, Marine Carbonates, (U-Series).- Carbonates, Pedogenic (U-Series).- Carbonates, Speleothem Archaeological (U-Series).- Carbonates, Speleothem Climatic (U-Series).- Chemical Weathering (U-Series).- Chert.- Chromatography.- Clays and Glauconites (K–Ar/Ar–Ar).- Continental Drift (Paleomagnetism).- Corals (Sclerochronology).- Crustal Sulfide Minerals (Re-Os).- Dendrochronology, Dwellings.- Dendrochronology, Entomology.- Dendrochronology, Fire Regimes.- Dendrochronology, Progress.- Dendrochronology, Surficial Processes.- Dendrochronology, Volcanic Eruptions.- Early Life on Earth.- Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Dating of Coral.- Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Dating of Fossil Tooth Enamel.- Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Dating, General Principles.- Electron Spin Resonance Spectrometer.- Environmental Releases.- Exhumation (Thermochronology).- Extraterrestrial Materials (K–Ar/Ar–Ar).- Fault Zone (Thermochronology).- Faults (U-Series).- Feldspar, Infrared-Stimulated Luminescence.- Feldspars.- Fission Track Dating and Thermochronology.- Gene Sequencing.- Geomagnetism.- Glacial Landscape (Cosmogenic Nuclide).- Groundwater Dating with Atmospheric Halogenated Compounds.- Historical Development ofDating Methods.- Hominid Evolution Timescale.- Hydrocarbons/Rhenium-Osmium (Re-Os): Organic-Rich Sedimentary Rocks.- Hydrothermal Ores (Thermochronology).- Ice Cores.- Impact Glass (Fission Tracks).- Index Fossil.- Isua Supracrustal Belt, West Greenland: Geochronology.- Jack Hills Zircon.- Kimberlites (K-Ar/Ar-Ar).- Lacustrine Environments (14C).- Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometer (LA ICP-MS).- Lichenometry.- Lucy.- Lu-Hf Dating: The Lu-Hf Isotope System.- Luminescence Dating.- Luminescence Dating of Archaeological Sediments.- Luminescence Dating, Deep-Sea Marine and Lacustrine.- Luminescence Dating, Dose Rates.- Luminescence Dating, History.- Luminescence Dating, Instrumentation.- Luminescence Dating, Loess.- Luminescence Dating, Meteorites.- Luminescence Dating, Shell-Rich Deposits.- Luminescence Dating, Single-Grain Dose Distribution.- Luminescence Dating, Uncertainties and Age Range.- Luminescence, Biogenic Carbonates.- Luminescence, Coastal Sediments.- Luminescence, Colluvial Sediments.- Luminescence, Desert Dunes.- Luminescence, Earthquake and Tectonic Activity.- Luminescence, Flints and Stones.- Luminescence, Fluvial Sediments.- Luminescence, Geomorphological Processes.- Luminescence, Glacial Sediments.- Luminescence, Martian Sediments.- Luminescence, Pottery and Bricks.- Luminescence, Rock Surfaces.- Luminescence, Soils.- Luminescence, Volcanic Rocks.- Magnetic Anomalies.- Magnetic Chronology.- Magnetometer.- Magnetostratigraphic Dating.- Marine Isotope Stratigraphy.- Marine Varves.- Mass Spectrometry.- Metamorphic Terranes (K–Ar/40Ar/39Ar).- Meteoric 10Be.- Meteorites (36Cl).- Meteorites (Lu–Hf).- Meteorites (U–Pb).- Meteorites, Rubidium–Strontium, and Samarium–Neodymium Chronology.- Minerals, (40Ar-39Ar).- Model Ages (Sm-Nd).- Molecular Clock Calibration.- Molecular Clocks.- Molecular Clocks, Human Evolution.- Molecular Clocks, Relaxed Variant.- Molecular Dating of Evolutionary Events.- Molecular Rate Variation (Molecular Clocks).- Molluscs, Foraminifera, and Other Carbonate Fossils  .- Neutron Activation Analysis.- Noble Gas Mass Spectrometer.- Obsidian Hydration Dating.- Paleosol.- 210Pb Dating.- Peat (14C).- Planetary Surfaces (Cratering Rate).- Polymerase Chain Reaction DNA Amplification.- Potassium-Argon (Argon-Argon), Structural Fabrics.- Quartz.- Quartz Defects, Optically Stimulated Luminescence and Thermoluminescence.- Radiation Defect.- Radiation Dose Rate.- Radiation and Radioactivity.- Radioactive Decay Constants.- Radiocarbon Dating.- Radiocarbon Dating of Marine Carbonates.- Radiocarbon Dating of Terrestrial Carbonates.- Radioluminescence (RL).- Rb–Sr Dating.- Rb–Sr Geochronology (Igneous Rocks).- Rhenium–Osmium Dating (Meteorites).- Rhenium–Osmium Geochronology: Sulfides, Shales, Oils, and Mantle.- Rubidium–Strontium Dating, Hydrothermal Events.- Sea Level Change (U-Series).- Seawater Sr Curve.- Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS).- Sediment Mixing Rate, 210Pb and 234Th.- Sediment, ESR.- SedimentaryRocks (Rb-Sr Geochronology).- Sediments, Terrestrial (Paleomagnetism).- Single-Crystal Laser Fusion.- Skeletal Remains (14C).- Sm–Nd Dating.- Stellar Chronology.- Tephrochronology.- Terrestrial Cosmogenic Nuclide Dating.- Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS).- Thermochronology, Detrital Zircon.- Thermochronology, Landform Evolution.- Thermochronology, Meteorites.- Tsunamigenic Sediments.- Ujaraaluk Unit (Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt).- Uranium Series, Ice.- Uranium Series, Opal.- Uranium Series, Rates of Basaltic Melt Generation and Transport.- Uranium Series, Volcanic Rocks.- Uranium–Lead Dating.- Uranium–Lead Dating, Opal.- Uranium-Lead, Chemical Isochron U-Pb Method (CHIME).- Uranium-Lead, Detrital Zircon.- Uranium-Lead, Diagenetic Processes.- Uranium–Lead, Extraterrestrial, Early Solar System.- Uranium–Lead, Extraterrestrial, Planetary Materials.- Uranium–Lead, Igneous Rocks.- Uranium-Lead, Metamorphic Rocks.- Uranium-Lead, Ore Deposits.- Uranium-Lead, Rubidium-Strontium, Kimberlite.- Uranium-Lead, Zircon.- U-Series Dating.- U-Th/He Dating.- Volcanic Glass (Fission Track).- Volcanic Rocks (K–Ar and Ar–Ar).- Volcanic Rocks, Ar/Ar.- Walther’s Law of Facies.- Zircon.

William Jack Rink is Professor of Earth Sciences at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Geology from Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. His research encompasses both fundamental studies of radiation exposure dating methods and applications of electron spin resonance, uranium series dating, and luminescence dating of archaeological sites in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America, and geochronology of near-shore and ancient coastal geomorphologic features. He was elected to the New York City Explorer’s Club in 2005. Jeroen W. Thompson is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences at McMaster University. He holds a B.Sc. in Physics and a B.Sc. in Anthropology (Michigan State University), as well as a M.Sc. in Physics (University of Connecticut) and a Ph.D. in Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences (McMaster University). His research is highly interdisciplinary, including diverse applications of radiation dosimetry and detection that span laboratory and field work. In particular, he has applied electron paramagnetic resonance and optically-stimulated luminescence dosimetry both forensic dosimetry and geochronology. He is currently a research management consultant, with specific focus on radiation and environmental sciences.

Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods wins GSIS Mary B. Ansari Best 2016 Reference Work Award The Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods has been selected to receive the 2016 GSIS Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award. J.W. Jack Rink and Jeroen W. Thompson are the editors of this reference work published by Springer in 2015. The Geoscience Information Society has presented the GSIS Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award annually since 1988. The award honors an outstanding reference work published in the field of geoscience information during the previous three years.

• Acasta Gneiss Complex.- Accelerator Mass Spectrometry.- Age of the Earth.- Alpha Spectroscopy.- Alpine Terranes (K-Ar/Ar-Ar).- Amino Acid.- Amino Acid Racemization Dating.- Amino Acid Racemization, Biostratigraphy.- Amino Acid Racemization, Coastal Sediments.- Amino Acid Racemization, Eolianites.- Amino Acid Racemization, Fluvial and Lacustrine Sediments (AAR).- Amino Acid Racemization, Marine Sediments.- Amino Acid Racemization, Paleoclimate.- Ancient Inks: A Forensic Art Historical Perspective.- Apatite.- Aquifer Characteristics (U-Series).- Ar–Ar and K–Ar Dating.- Archaeomagnetic Dating.- Band Structure.- Beta Counter.- Big Bang.- Biostratigraphy.- Bivalve Sclerochronology.- Bomb Carbon.- Bones (U-Series).- 14C in Plant Macrofossils.- Carbonates, Lacustrine (U-Series).- Carbonates, Marine Carbonates, (U-Series).- Carbonates, Pedogenic (U-Series).- Carbonates, Speleothem Archaeological (U-Series).- Carbonates, Speleothem Climatic (U-Series).- Chemical Weathering (U-Series).- Chert.- Chromatography.- Clays and Glauconites (K–Ar/Ar–Ar).- Continental Drift (Paleomagnetism).- Corals (Sclerochronology).- Crustal Sulfide Minerals (Re-Os).- Dendrochronology, Dwellings.- Dendrochronology, Entomology.- Dendrochronology, Fire Regimes.- Dendrochronology, Progress.- Dendrochronology, Surficial Processes.- Dendrochronology, Volcanic Eruptions.- Early Life on Earth.- Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Dating of Coral.- Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Dating of Fossil Tooth Enamel.- Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Dating, General Principles.- Electron Spin Resonance Spectrometer.- Environmental Releases.- Exhumation (Thermochronology).- Extraterrestrial Materials (K–Ar/Ar–Ar).- Fault Zone (Thermochronology).- Faults (U-Series).- Feldspar, Infrared-Stimulated Luminescence.- Feldspars.- Fission Track Dating and Thermochronology.- Gene Sequencing.- Geomagnetism.- Glacial Landscape (Cosmogenic Nuclide).- Groundwater Dating with Atmospheric Halogenated Compounds.- Historical Development ofDating Methods.- Hominid Evolution Timescale.- Hydrocarbons/Rhenium-Osmium (Re-Os): Organic-Rich Sedimentary Rocks.- Hydrothermal Ores (Thermochronology).- Ice Cores.- Impact Glass (Fission Tracks).- Index Fossil.- Isua Supracrustal Belt, West Greenland: Geochronology.- Jack Hills Zircon.- Kimberlites (K-Ar/Ar-Ar).- Lacustrine Environments (14C).- Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometer (LA ICP-MS).- Lichenometry.- Lucy.- Lu-Hf Dating: The Lu-Hf Isotope System.- Luminescence Dating.- Luminescence Dating of Archaeological Sediments.- Luminescence Dating, Deep-Sea Marine and Lacustrine.- Luminescence Dating, Dose Rates.- Luminescence Dating, History.- Luminescence Dating, Instrumentation.- Luminescence Dating, Loess.- Luminescence Dating, Meteorites.- Luminescence Dating, Shell-Rich Deposits.- Luminescence Dating, Single-Grain Dose Distribution.- Luminescence Dating, Uncertainties and Age Range.- Luminescence, Biogenic Carbonates.- Luminescence, Coastal Sediments.- Luminescence, Colluvial Sediments.- Luminescence, Desert Dunes.- Luminescence, Earthquake and Tectonic Activity.- Luminescence, Flints and Stones.- Luminescence, Fluvial Sediments.- Luminescence, Geomorphological Processes.- Luminescence, Glacial Sediments.- Luminescence, Martian Sediments.- Luminescence, Pottery and Bricks.- Luminescence, Rock Surfaces.- Luminescence, Soils.- Luminescence, Volcanic Rocks.- Magnetic Anomalies.- Magnetic Chronology.- Magnetometer.- Magnetostratigraphic Dating.- Marine Isotope Stratigraphy.- Marine Varves.- Mass Spectrometry.- Metamorphic Terranes (K–Ar/40Ar/39Ar).- Meteoric 10Be.- Meteorites (36Cl).- Meteorites (Lu–Hf).- Meteorites (U–Pb).- Meteorites, Rubidium–Strontium, and Samarium–Neodymium Chronology.- Minerals, (40Ar-39Ar).- Model Ages (Sm-Nd).- Molecular Clock Calibration.- Molecular Clocks.- Molecular Clocks, Human Evolution.- Molecular Clocks, Relaxed Variant.- Molecular Dating of Evolutionary Events.- Molecular Rate Variation (Molecular Clocks).- Molluscs, Foraminifera, and Other Carbonate Fossils  .- Neutron Activation Analysis.- Noble Gas Mass Spectrometer.- Obsidian Hydration Dating.- Paleosol.- 210Pb Dating.- Peat (14C).- Planetary Surfaces (Cratering Rate).- Polymerase Chain Reaction DNA Amplification.- Potassium-Argon (Argon-Argon), Structural Fabrics.- Quartz.- Quartz Defects, Optically Stimulated Luminescence and Thermoluminescence.- Radiation Defect.- Radiation Dose Rate.- Radiation and Radioactivity.- Radioactive Decay Constants.- Radiocarbon Dating.- Radiocarbon Dating of Marine Carbonates.- Radiocarbon Dating of Terrestrial Carbonates.- Radioluminescence (RL).- Rb–Sr Dating.- Rb–Sr Geochronology (Igneous Rocks).- Rhenium–Osmium Dating (Meteorites).- Rhenium–Osmium Geochronology: Sulfides, Shales, Oils, and Mantle.- Rubidium–Strontium Dating, Hydrothermal Events.- Sea Level Change (U-Series).- Seawater Sr Curve.- Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS).- Sediment Mixing Rate, 210Pb and 234Th.- Sediment, ESR.- SedimentaryRocks (Rb-Sr Geochronology).- Sediments, Terrestrial (Paleomagnetism).- Single-Crystal Laser Fusion.- Skeletal Remains (14C).- Sm–Nd Dating.- Stellar Chronology.- Tephrochronology.- Terrestrial Cosmogenic Nuclide Dating.- Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS).- Thermochronology, Detrital Zircon.- Thermochronology, Landform Evolution.- Thermochronology, Meteorites.- Tsunamigenic Sediments.- Ujaraaluk Unit (Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt).- Uranium Series, Ice.- Uranium Series, Opal.- Uranium Series, Rates of Basaltic Melt Generation and Transport.- Uranium Series, Volcanic Rocks.- Uranium–Lead Dating.- Uranium–Lead Dating, Opal.- Uranium-Lead, Chemical Isochron U-Pb Method (CHIME).- Uranium-Lead, Detrital Zircon.- Uranium-Lead, Diagenetic Processes.- Uranium–Lead, Extraterrestrial, Early Solar System.- Uranium–Lead, Extraterrestrial, Planetary Materials.- Uranium–Lead, Igneous Rocks.- Uranium-Lead, Metamorphic Rocks.- Uranium-Lead, Ore Deposits.- Uranium-Lead, Rubidium-Strontium, Kimberlite.- Uranium-Lead, Zircon.- U-Series Dating.- U-Th/He Dating.- Volcanic Glass (Fission Track).- Volcanic Rocks (K–Ar and Ar–Ar).- Volcanic Rocks, Ar/Ar.- Walther’s Law of Facies.- Zircon.