PREFACE 



THE Hon. Sir Charles Parsons, as President of the 

 Association in 1919-20, suggested the compilation 

 of this book, and his generosity has made possible 

 its production : the compiler's gratitude is due to 

 him first of all. The General Secretaries of the 

 Association (Professor H. H. Turner and Professor 

 J. L. Myres) have advised at every stage ; these 

 and the General Treasurer (Dr. E. H. Griffiths), 

 Sir William Herdman (past General Secretary and 

 President), Sir Oliver Lodge (past President), Mr. T. 

 Sheppard (of the Municipal Museums, Hull), and 

 Mr. F. A. Bellamy (of the University Observatory, 

 Oxford), have very kindly looked over proofs, and all 

 have been generous with suggestions. The names of 

 other helpers are gratefully recorded in the footnote 

 to Chapter VI. Of the numerous published bio- 

 graphies consulted, those by Sir Archibald Geikie 

 on Murchison and A, C. Ramsay, and those by Dr. 

 Leonard Huxley on T. H. Huxley and Hooker, 

 contain notably valuable references to the Associa- 

 tion, and the compiler is proud to acknowledge the 

 kindness of these writers, which has emboldened him 

 to quote freely from their pages. He has also to 

 express his sense of the courtesy of the councils and 

 officers of the Royal Society and the Geological 

 Society, the keeper of the Yorkshire Museum (Dr. 

 W. E. Collinge), the Superintendent of Kew Obser- 

 vatory (Dr. Charles Chree), and Mr. E. H. Nichols, 

 in lending photographs. 



A complete record of the work of the Associa- 

 tion would occupy many volumes and many expert 

 pens ; this book aims no higher than to provide a 

 summary review of its activities, with examples. 



