Peter Gretener was educated in Switzerland, where he obtained a PhD in geophysics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. After working in industry in Calgary, Houston and the far North for over a decade, he entered the ranks of academe at the University of Calgary. There, he spent some thirty years as a professor of Geology and Geophysics who sought to leave a mark on his students—“They should love me or hate me, just not be indifferent.” Beyond rocks, Gretener was interested in mankind’s interactions with planet Earth.
Professor Gretener died in 2008. Vanishing is published posthumously from a manuscript and papers uncovered after his death.
