24: A CENTURY OF SCIENCE 



mind to occupy the newly-made chair of chemistry, min- 

 eralogy (and later geology) in Yale College at New 

 Haven. To fit himself for the work before him he 

 carried on extensive studies at home and in Philadelphia 

 and spent the year 1805 in travels and study at London 

 and Edinburgh, and also on the Continent. His active 

 duties began in 1806 and from this time on he was in the 

 service of Yale College until his resignation in 1853. 

 From the first, Silliman met with remarkable success as a 

 teacher and public lecturer in arousing an interest in 

 science. His breadth of knowledge, his enthusiasm for 

 his chosen subjects and power of clear presentation, com- 

 bined with his fine presence and attractive personality, 

 made him a great leader in the science of the country and 

 gave him a unique position in the history of its develop- 

 ment. 



Much might be said of the man and his work, but, the 

 best tribute is that of James Dwight Dana, given in his 

 inaugural address upon the occasion of his beginning his 

 duties as Silliman professor of geology in Yale College. 

 This was delivered on February 18, 1856, in what was 

 then known as the "Cabinet Building.'' Dana says 

 in part : 



"In entering upon the duties of this place, my thoughts turn 

 rather to the past than to the subject of the present hour. I 

 feel that it is an honored place, honored by the labors of one 

 who has been the guardian of American Science from its child- 

 hood; who here first opened to the country the wonderful 

 records of geology ; whose words of eloquence and earnest truth 

 were but the overflow of a soul full of noble sentiments and 

 warm sympathies, the whole throwing a peculiar charm over 

 his learning, and rendering his name beloved as well as illus- 

 trious. Just fifty years since, Professor Silliman took his sta- 

 tion at the head of chemical and geological science in this college. 

 Geology was then hardly known by name in the land, out of 

 these walls. Two years before, previous to his tour in Europe, 

 the whole cabinet of Yale was a half-bushel of unlabelled stones. 

 On visiting England he found even in London no school public 

 or private, for geological instruction, and the science was not 

 named in the English universities. To the mines, quarries, and 

 cliffs of England, the crags of Scotland, and the meadows of 

 Holland he looked for knowledge, and from these and the teach- 

 ings of Murray, Jameson, Hall, Hope, and Playfair, at Edin- 

 burgh, Professor Silliman returned, equipped for duty, albeit 



