A Story of Two Rocks

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Abstract
An attempt is made to assess the impact that the investigation on reference (standard) rocks G‐1 and W‐1 has had on the geological fraternity. It is pointed out that prior to 1950, most geologists, petrologists, geochemists and the analysts themselves had a false impression of the quality of the data as obtained by classical methods of chemical analysis.As a result of the G‐1 W‐1 investigation, numerous other rock standards have been prepared, yet, despite the G‐1, W‐1 experience and the availability of several other reference rocks, progress on the improvement on data quality is often disappointingly slow.The G‐1, W‐1 investigation has had significant consequences for the development of geochemistry and the extra‐terrestrial chemistry; one example is given.