Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 2018

The plate tectonic theory had spawned a paradigmatic shift in the way we address issues related to the Earth’s evolution. And, the momentous 1960s ushered a new dawn in Earth sciences under the auspices of a group of scientists across the Atlantic. Standing tall among them was Dan McKenzie from the Cambridge University, UK. His paper along with R. L. Parker on ‘Tectonics on a sphere’ marked a watershed moment in Earth science research. In the inaugural article of this volume McKenzie writes about his eventful scientific career – highlighting his contributions on lithospheric structure, mantle convection and plate motion.