Heinz A. Lowenstam; Caltech Professor of Paleoecology

Heinz A. Lowenstam, 80, a Caltech professor of paleoecology who discovered that animals can generate their own magnets to aid homing instincts. Born in Germany, Lowenstam was educated at the University of Frankfurt and the University of Munich only to be denied his doctorate because he was a Jew. Fleeing the Nazi regime, he immigrated to the United States in 1937 and obtained the Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He taught at Caltech from 1953 until his retirement in 1983, but continued his research until his death. He studied biomineralization, the chemistry and biology of the teeth and shells of living and extinct marine animals, and frequently referred to himself as a “professional beachcomber.” In the 1960s, he discovered that animals can manufacture iron-containing magnetite. His finding helped explain migratory animals’ homing instincts through an internal compass that enables them to navigate by means of Earth’s magnetic field. On Monday in Pasadena of cancer.