﻿CHAMBERLIN 
  WILLIS 
  587 
  

  

  became 
  intensified 
  as 
  the 
  years 
  passed. 
  He 
  had 
  Httle 
  patience 
  with 
  

   "denatured" 
  theories. 
  He 
  held 
  that 
  

  

  The 
  greatest 
  genius 
  is 
  probably 
  a 
  genius 
  for 
  seeing 
  the 
  realities 
  of 
  things 
  — 
  all 
  

   the 
  essential 
  realities 
  of 
  actual 
  problems. 
  

  

  ChamberHn 
  himself 
  possessed 
  that 
  genius 
  in 
  very 
  high 
  degree 
  and 
  he 
  

   developed 
  it 
  conscientiously, 
  always 
  endeavoring 
  to 
  make 
  his 
  analysis 
  

   of 
  the 
  realities 
  as 
  complete 
  as 
  possible. 
  He 
  thus 
  advanced, 
  step 
  by 
  

   step, 
  far 
  beyond 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  less 
  daring 
  minds, 
  and 
  with 
  some 
  

   incurred 
  the 
  charge 
  of 
  being 
  unduly 
  speculative 
  because 
  they 
  did 
  not 
  

   realize 
  how 
  clearly 
  he 
  saw 
  the 
  facts. 
  But 
  even 
  though 
  he 
  himself 
  

   strove 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  complete 
  analysis, 
  he 
  welcomed 
  suggestions 
  cordially. 
  

   Three 
  weeks 
  before 
  he 
  died 
  he 
  wrote 
  a 
  fellow 
  geologist 
  who 
  had 
  thought 
  

   to 
  strengthen 
  a 
  point 
  in 
  the 
  two 
  solar 
  families: 
  "I 
  hasten 
  to 
  acknowl- 
  

   edge 
  your 
  contribution." 
  He 
  scorned 
  pettiness 
  and 
  was 
  incapable 
  of 
  

   appropriating 
  another's 
  thought 
  unacknowledged. 
  

  

  Chamberlin 
  was 
  a 
  teacher. 
  His 
  progress 
  from 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  

   principal 
  of 
  the 
  Delavan 
  High 
  School 
  (1866-1868) 
  to 
  the 
  "settee" 
  of 
  

   natural 
  sciences 
  at 
  the 
  State 
  Normal 
  School 
  at 
  Whitewater 
  (1869-1872), 
  

   thence 
  to 
  the 
  professorship 
  of 
  geology 
  at 
  Beloit 
  (1873-1882), 
  to 
  Colum- 
  

   bian 
  University 
  (1885-1887), 
  and 
  to 
  Chicago 
  University 
  (1892-1919) 
  

   was 
  the 
  natural 
  evolution 
  of 
  a 
  career 
  of 
  teaching 
  for 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  

   peculiarly 
  fitted. 
  It 
  was 
  interrupted 
  from 
  1887 
  to 
  1892 
  by 
  his 
  

   service 
  as 
  president 
  of 
  the 
  University 
  of 
  Wisconsin. 
  But 
  the 
  admin- 
  

   istrative 
  office 
  had 
  little 
  attraction 
  for 
  a 
  mind 
  that 
  cared 
  nothing 
  for 
  

   authority 
  and 
  was 
  devoted 
  to 
  the 
  acquisition 
  and 
  diffusion 
  of 
  knowl- 
  

   edge. 
  Once 
  when 
  tendered 
  the 
  directorship 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   Geological 
  Survey 
  he 
  responded 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  come 
  to 
  consider 
  alterna- 
  

   tive 
  views 
  too 
  habitually 
  to 
  act 
  satisfactorily 
  as 
  an 
  executive, 
  who 
  

   must 
  often 
  decide 
  "y^s" 
  or 
  "no" 
  in 
  doubtful 
  cases. 
  

  

  The 
  teacher 
  and 
  the 
  investigator 
  went 
  hand 
  in 
  hand. 
  The 
  embryo 
  

   of 
  his 
  thinking 
  on 
  geology 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  suggestions 
  of 
  his 
  environ- 
  

   ment 
  as 
  a 
  boy. 
  His 
  intellectual 
  force 
  was 
  inborn, 
  but 
  the 
  work 
  it 
  

   was 
  to 
  do 
  was 
  determined 
  by 
  the 
  puzzling 
  and 
  tantalizing, 
  because 
  

   unexplained, 
  facts: 
  "snails" 
  and 
  "snakes" 
  in 
  the 
  rocks, 
  the 
  migra- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  birds, 
  the 
  aurora 
  borealis, 
  the 
  stars, 
  all 
  outdoors. 
  His 
  reaction 
  

   to 
  the 
  stimulus 
  was 
  characteristically 
  demonstrated 
  when 
  he 
  dismissed 
  

   the 
  formal 
  classes 
  of 
  the 
  Delavan 
  High 
  School 
  on 
  a 
  throbbing 
  spring 
  

   day 
  to 
  "go 
  out 
  to 
  see 
  if 
  we 
  can 
  find 
  things 
  in 
  nature 
  worth 
  knowing 
  

   and 
  thinking 
  about." 
  

  

  Entering 
  into 
  official 
  relations 
  as 
  assistant 
  geologist 
  on 
  the 
  Wiscon- 
  

   sin 
  Survey 
  (1873-1876), 
  Chamberlin 
  was 
  not 
  given 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  preferred 
  

   districts 
  containing 
  iron 
  or 
  lead, 
  but 
  was 
  assigned 
  to 
  the 
  economically 
  

   barren 
  southeastern 
  quarter 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  The 
  rocks 
  were 
  the 
  well 
  

   known 
  Paleozoic 
  strata 
  and 
  they 
  were 
  deeply 
  covered 
  by 
  glacial 
  

   drift. 
  The 
  bald 
  simplicity 
  of 
  the 
  apparent 
  problems 
  might 
  well 
  have 
  

  

  