KLUYVER AS SEEN BY HIS PUPILS 



He took great pains with his texts; his mastery of languages was im- 

 pressive. Although he had never learned Greek or Latin, nobody 

 would have suspected this. Among foreign modern languages he seem- 

 ed to have a preference for English; and armed with Roget's 'The- 

 saurus' and the Oxford and Ten Bruggencate's Dutch-English diction- 

 aries, he liked to hunt for the exact word. He had a predilection for 

 words that appealed to him as expressive, and an aversion to weak 

 ones, such as 'interesting' which, he used to say, 'ought to be used 

 only by one's aunt in reporting on a lecture she had not understood'. 

 Van Niel was a match for him in linguistic matters, and their collab- 

 oration on the text of the Prather lectures was a delight to both. 



Although Kluyver was not the ivory-tower type of scientist, he al- 

 lowed his social contacts and family life to usurp as little of his time 

 as was reasonably possible. His wife, bearing the brunt of leading the 

 household and of educating the five children, nobly and unselfishly 

 shielded him from most cares. Kluyver did not like to bother with 

 matters that seemed to him trivial, including the greater part of his 

 personal affairs ; and when his decision on some household transaction 

 could not be dispensed with, Airs. Kluyver frequently had to come to 

 the study and compete for his attention with his collaborators. If, on 

 such an occasion, Kluyver's interest had been kindled and he started 

 to analyse the matter in the same expansive manner in which he ap- 

 proached a scientific problem, she was quick to pierce his eloquence 

 in her businesslike, matter-of-fact way with some such ejaculation as 

 'Don't show off, Ab!', thus saving her time and his; and Kluyver gra- 

 ciously conceded the common sense of this attitude. Her vigour, cor- 

 diality, and efficiency enabled her to cope easily with meals or garden 

 parties for any number of guests who often turned up quite unexpect- 

 edly. We may be sure that Kluyver did not take this essential support 

 for granted or that he accepted it as his due ; he was slightly apologet- 

 ic about it, with an ever fresh sense of gratefulness. 



Thus Kluyver could devote virtually all his time and energy to his 

 various tasks. The day was divided into three parts, starting at 9 a.m., 

 2 p.m., and 8 p.m., respectively, each one terminating at rather in- 

 definite times. Only in later years did he allow himself a short break 

 during the morning when, at 10.30, superb black coffee, much cov- 

 eted by his associates, was served in the study. Kluyver adhered to his 

 schedule with great punctuality, though never demonstratively so. He 



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