James Dwight Dana (1813-1895) was an American geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcanic activity, and the origin and structure of continents and oceans around the world. Dana was the pre-eminent American geologist of his time. Dana was responsible for developing much of the early knowledge on Hawaiian volcanism. In 1880 and 1881 he led the first geological study of the volcanics of Hawaii island. Dana's best known books were his System of Mineralogy (1837, has been continuously revised and updated by a succession of editors,1997), his Manual of Mineralogy (1848, became a standard college text, and has been continuously revised and updated by a succession of editors, 2007) and his Manual of Geology (1863). He lived to be 82 and died of natural causes.