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David S. McKay
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David S. McKay

American astrobiologist and geologist
Also known as: David Stewart McKay
Written by
Amy Tikkanen
Amy Tikkanen is Managing Editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Amy Tikkanen
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

David S. McKay (born September 25, 1936, Titusville, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died February 20, 2013, Houston, Texas) was an American astrobiologist and geologist best known for claiming to have found evidence of microscopic life on a Martian meteorite. McKay was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of an accountant for an oil company. He received a bachelor’s degree (1958) in geology from Rice University in Houston and proceeded to earn a master’s degree in geochemistry from the...

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