An ordinary chondrite fall in southeast Michigan, USA (near the crossroads hamlet of Worden in northeast Washtenaw County) penetrated the garage roof of a private home on 1997 September 1. The Worden chondrite comprises silicate matrix, mineral fragments, chondrules, chondrule fragments, and opaque primary phases. Electron microprobe analyses (olivine, Fa23.9; orthopyroxene, FS20.1, En78.8, W01) indicate diagnostic L-chondrite silicate mineral compositions. Recognizable chondrules and chondrule fragments constitute up to 42 vol%. Chondrule boundaries are readily discernable (especially where chondrules have rims of opaque material) but not sharp, and discrete plagioclase crystals are visible in the devitrified mesostasis of barred olivine chondrules; together, these characteristics suggest petrologic type S. The spatially averaged ensemble of shockrelated features (optical extinction of olivine grains, minor localized shock melt) suggests assignment of a shock stage of S3. The 26 Al and 22Na activities are typical for an L chondrite. Worden fell near the most recent solar minimum in 1997, and the 22Na production rate should have been at a level approaching the maximum levels due to solar modulation of the galactic cosmic-ray flux. The low value for the Worden 22Na activity relative to those observed in chondrite falls associated with the 1969 solar maximum and 1976 solar minimum suggests a relatively small preatmospheric size. The 60Co activity confirms the indication of a small body. The 56Co activity was essentially zero, indicating that none of the recovered meteorite contained material exposed to solar cosmic rays. The Worden chondrite is the fourth documented fall in Michigan, and the fourth stony meteorite recovered in Michigan; all other Michigan meteorites are finds, not observed falls, and are iron meteorites. All Michigan falls to date are ordinary chondrites. The three falls prior to Worden were Allegan (HS) fell 1899; Rose City (HS, brecciated, black (dark matrix)) fell 1921 ; and Coleman (L6, veined (shocked); Osborn et aI., 1997) fell 1994. Worden has a much lighter matrix than Rose City, and is less extensively thermally and shock metamorphosed than either Rose City (StOffler et aI., 1991) or Coleman.

A catalog of the meteorite collection hosted by the National Museum of Natural Sciences of Madrid is presented. It includes 88 stony meteorites, 56 iron meteorites, and 13 stony-iron meteorites, as well as 14 tektites.

The historical meteorite collection of Milan's Civico Planetario and Museo di Storia Naturale is presented in this catalogue. Started in 1838, the collection contains to date (March 2002) 231 samples of 77 individual falls, representing 118.935 kg (i.e., the total weight is 118 kg and 935 g) of extraterrestrial material, including 5 carbonaceous chondrites, 38 ordinary chondrites, 3 achondrites, 7 stony-iron meteorites and 24 iron meteorites.

Increased commerce in meteorites raises questions about their ownership and control. This article reviews the law in several countries, international law, and considers the legal and ethical issues facing curators wanting to bring finds to the research community and not divert them to a black market. A survey was made of scientists involved in meteorite acquisition in over 20 countries to determine how well various systems work. Meteorite ownership law is non-uniform. English Common Law, from which the law in former British colonies including the United States evolved, provides that meteorites are the landowner's property; buried meteorites might be part of the mineral rights. Find reporting that is not mandatory. Most Western European countries, and former colonies, have civil codes providing that meteorites are owned by the landowner. In many countries legislation about archaeological treasures modifies earlier meteorite law. The UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property provides for tracking and retrieving from reciprocating states, cultural property including meteorites. The Antarctic Treaty does not deal with samples exported. In July 2001 the Antarctic Treaty Consultative parties adopted a resolution to discourage non-scientific collection. Curators should exercise caution if acquiring specimens of questionable legal ownership. Governments should be urged to enact laws to (1) discourage non-scientific collection in pristine areas; (2) encourage collection in populated areas by reasonable incentives to finders, with mandatory find reporting; (3) create efficient export permitting systems allowing exchange of research samples; and (4) retrieve illegally exported meteorites under the UNESCO Cultural Property Convention.

Among the four declared meteorites from Vietnam, the two most recent ones--Phuoc-Binh (1941) and Fuc Bin (1971)--appear to be the same, following a visit to the Hanoi museum and an analysis of the literature. Phuoc-Binh (L5) with a fall date of 1941 July 18 should be the correct entry.

In this interview, Brian Mason describes the sudden awakening of his interest in meteorites during his student days at Canterbury College in New Zealand when he read a paper on the cosmic abundance of the elements by Victor M. Goldschmidt. Subsequently, he won a scholarship for graduate study abroad and wrote to Goldschmidt asking if he could do a thesis with him in Norway. Shortly after he began his research in Oslo, he fled the city, ahead of the German invasion of Norway, and completed his doctorate in Stockholm with a thesis on the iron-manganese minerals of the Långban Mine. After the war he taught for 3 years at Canterbury College where he gave courses on mineralogy and geology (into which he inserted lectures on geochemistry) and led students in extensive field studies. In 1947, Mason accepted a professorship of mineralogy at Indiana University. While there, he wrote the landmark book, Principles of Geochemistry, which appeared in 1952. The following year he moved to New York City where he served as the Curator of Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. He became fascinated with the museum's meteorite collection and discussed meteorites in his lectures, which inspired some of his outstanding students to enter the field. During a sabbatical year he spent as a Fulbright Professor in Japan, he gave an advanced level seminar on meteorites and based his book, Meteorites, on his lecture notes. Mason developed a rapid method of optically classifying chondritic meteorites that he applied to major collections in many countries, thus enabling curators to replace uninformative labels such as "stone" or "chondrite" with species names, and to recognize which of their meteorites were rare types demanding serious study. In 1965 he moved to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. where he remained for the rest of his career. Early in 1968, he collected specimens from the spectacular fall of the Allende meteorite in Mexico, which proved to be a carbonaceous chondrite containing rare types of inclusions enriched in calcium and aluminum. His analyses showed how these incusions could be divided into groups on the basis of their differing rare earth element patterns. Mason's studies of Allende continued while he investigated lunar samples returned by the Apollo missions and coauthored a book on them. Beginning in the latter 1970s, he applied his rapid classification of stony meteorites to the large numbers of specimens collected each year by U.S. teams on the Antarctic ice sheet. In 1992 he capped his career with a biography of Victor M. Goldschmidt. In recognition of his many fundamental contributions, The Meteoritical Society honored Brian Mason with its Leonard Medal at its meeting in 1972 at the University of Chicago.