KLUYVER AS PROFESSOR; CHRONICLES OF THE LABORATORY 



he was appointed, as Academy delegate, to the chairmanship of the 

 'Commission Kluyver', which was to prepare recommendations to the 

 Government concerning atomic energy investigations in the Nether- 

 lands. His forward-looking attitude and proficiency as a mediator 

 were to set the tune in this commission. When the 'Netherlands' Re- 

 actor Centre' was established, he was made a member of its executive 

 council. Shortly afterwards, on invitation by the Government, an 

 Academy committee under his leadership studied the dangers to life 

 connected with the detonation of atomic weapons. Although it is cer- 

 tain that Kluyver owed these appointments to his great authority and 

 diplomatic skill, it is worthy of note that in his 1922 inaugural address, 

 reprinted in this volume, he had already anticipated that man would 

 some day be able to exploit the enormous intra-atomic energy. 



In post-war years, as mentioned earlier, Kluyver was often invited 

 to deliver special lectures. Once he had accepted such an invitation, 

 he considered it beneath himself to live on past glory, and felt obli- 

 gated to contribute the best that his experience could offer, always 

 adapting the topic and presentation to his audience. This involved an 

 extremely thorough and time-consuming preparation, which extended 

 over weeks and used to continue till the very last moment, although 

 it was always completed in time. A glance at the bibliography and 

 the list of honours will suffice to indicate the number and variety of 

 this sort of lectures, which often involved fatiguing journeys as well. 



These and the previously mentioned activities must be superim- 

 posed on the regular daily schedule which, in these days, bore a truly 

 kaleidoscopic character in its own right. Problems of instruction in the 

 Department of Chemical Technology, committee activities in his own 

 field, preparation for congresses and other scientific meetings, weekly 

 and monthly visits to industrial concerns for which he acted as adviser, 

 incidental requests for advice on technological or scientific matters, 

 and naturally, the direction of the work in his laboratory, the lec- 

 tures, and the examinations, these represent the most important cat- 

 egories into which his work might be classified. In addition there were 

 separate and special occasions that required his attention, such as the 

 voyage to Trondheim in 1954, where he took part in the promotion 

 of the Norwegian microbiologist, H. Larsen, who had conducted his 

 work for the doctor's degree under Van Niel. 



Another such example was the selection of Kluyver as promoter of 



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