Dean Benjamin McLaughlin (born October 25, 1901, Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

, NY

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

; died December 8, 1965, Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

, Washtenaw

Washtenaw County, Michigan

Washtenaw County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 344,791. Its county seat is Ann Arbor. The United States Office of Management and Budget defines the county as part of the Detroit–Warren–Flint Combined Statistical Area...

, MI

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 astronomer

Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...

. He was a professor of astronomy at the University of Michigan. He was the father of the science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 Dean B. McLaughlin, Jr.

Dean McLaughlin

Dean Benjamin McLaughlin, Jr. is an American science fiction writer.He was the son of astronomer Dean B. McLaughlin.His best known work is "Hawk Among the Sparrows" , which was nominated for both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award for Best Novella.It concerns a late-20th century fighter plane which...

In 1954 he proposed the theory that there are volcano

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

es on Mars

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

 and that their eruptions change the albedo feature

Albedo feature

An albedo feature is a large area on the surface of a planet which shows a contrast in brightness or darkness with adjacent areas....

s called "mare" (The martian equivalent of Lunar mare

Lunar mare

The lunar maria are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for "seas", by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas. They are less reflective than the "highlands" as a result of their iron-rich compositions, and...

). His proposal was partially confirmed in 1971 with the arrival of Mariner 9

Mariner 9

Mariner 9 was a NASA space orbiter that helped in the exploration of Mars and was part of the Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and reached the planet on November 13 of the same year, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit...

, which showed that strong winds could move dust around the planet, creating the changes of appearance formerly attributed to some kind of vegetation http://arxiv.org/abs/0811.2700.

A crater

Impact crater

In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...

 on Mars was named in his honor, as is the crater McLaughlin

McLaughlin (lunar crater)

McLaughlin is a lunar crater that is located just behind the northwestern rim on the far side of the Moon. This portion of the surface is sometimes brought into view of the Earth due to libration, and the area can then be viewed from a low angle under favorable lighting conditions. McLaughlin lies...

on the far side of the Moon.