KLUYVER AS SEEN BY HIS PUPILS 



sequently his membership in the Royal Netherlands' Academy of 

 Sciences, where each month he could meet with the outstanding re- 

 presentatives of many branches of the natural sciences, was to him far 

 more than an honour: it provided him with the means of satisfying his 

 real need for a better comprehension of nature and of man. Though 

 he may not have been conversant with the methodological details in 

 other fields, he nevertheless kept abreast of developments in biology, 

 physics, astronomy, geology, and medicine. The extensive knowledge 

 so acquired is reflected in many of his publications, and strikingly ap- 

 parent from the obituary notices of Academy members which he 

 wrote during his tenure of the presidency of this body. In addition he 

 was a member of a whole spectrum of learned societies, committees, 

 and editorial boards, thus encompassing a much broader field than 

 microbiology proper. 



Although he was a scientist first and foremost, he did not shirk other 

 duties resulting from his professorship, and he did not confine himself 

 to those connected with his laboratory, faculty, or even university. He 

 was deeply interested in the functional aspects of higher education in 

 the Netherlands, and on many occasions, e.g. during his rectorate, his 

 special gifts were naturally put to good use. 



Apart from contributing to the advancement, organization, and dis- 

 semination of science, he felt it his duty and prerogative as a scientist 

 to keep his finger on the pulse of the development of mankind in the 

 broadest sense. He wanted to be informed about current events in the 

 world at large, and to gain a reasonable interpretation of their mean- 

 ing. To this end he read widely and voraciously, and subscribed to 

 numerous Dutch and foreign journals, including the 'New York Her- 

 ald Tribune', 'Time Magazine', 'Biology and Human Affairs', and 

 'Impact of Science on Humanity'. Foreign policy fascinated him, and 

 was often discussed with his associates. He had files of newspaper clip- 

 pings on many matters of general interest, such as the Salk vaccine, 

 and did not consider it beneath his dignity to peruse scientific reports 

 written for the layman, particularly because these often suggested nov- 

 el ways of presentation. Such an interest is comprehensible because he 

 himself had a strong and efficacious inclination towards colourful dis- 

 play, adapted to the audience of the moment, as is evident from many 

 of the slides and charts he had designed. 



Against this background it is understandable that the second world 



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