THEODORE WILLIAM RICHARDS BAXTER 747 



interests, and no joleasure greater than his at their success. To me the 

 35 years of close association with Richards as his pupil, colleague, 

 and friend will always be one of the greatest privileges of my life. 



Although never an athlete in a strict sense, he was fond of various 

 outdoor sports. He was especially interested in yachting, and for 

 many years as a young man spent a portion of his summers on his 

 cruising yawl. At one time he was a good tennis player, and he 

 was one of the earlier devotees of golf in America. The latter pas- 

 time he never gave up. 



In 1896 Richards was married to Miss Miriam Stuart Thayer, 

 daughter of Prof. Joseph Henry Thayer, of the Harvard Divinity 

 School. Of their three children, Grace Thayer is the wife of Prof. 

 eTames B. Conant, of Harvard; William Theodore has inherited his 

 father's scientific tastes and is assistant professor of chemistry at 

 Princeton University, while Greenough Thayer is a student of 

 architecture. 



His domestic inclinations were very strong and his wife's apprecia- 

 tion of his work was extraordinarily sympathetic. It would be hard 

 to decide which was greatest, his devotion to his family, to Harvard 

 University, or to science, but it is certain that no one could have been 

 more forgetful of self in the interest of any of them. His creed with 

 relation to the last one of the three has been left in his own words 

 and is typical of his desire to give faithful service : 



First and foremost I should emphasize the overwhelming importance of per- 

 fect sincerity and truth ; one must purge oneself of the very human tendency to 

 look only at the favorable aspects of his work, and be ever on the lookout for 

 self-deception (which may be quite unintentional). Next, one should never 

 be content with a conventional experimental method or scientific point of view ; 

 one should be open-minded as to the possibility that the procedure or hypothesis 

 may be incomplete. Each step should be questioned, and each possibility of 

 improvement realized. And then, patience, patience ! Only by unremitting, 

 persistent labor can a lasting outcome be reached. 



