SECTION A GEOPHYSICS 



(Hall 14, September 21, 10 a. m.) 



CHAIRMAN : PROFESSOR CHRISTOPHER W. HALL, University of Minnesota. 

 SPEAKERS: DR. GEORGE F. BECKER, Geologist, U. S. Geological Survey. 

 SECRETARY: PROFESSOR E. M. LEHNERTS, Winona Normal School, Minn. 



THE Chairman of the Section of Geophysics was Professor Christo- 

 pher W. Hall, of the University of Minnesota, who stated, in present- 

 ing the speakers: 



"Scientific men have hitherto followed their several lines of re- 

 search with such success that vantage-ground is secured from which 

 to take a survey of broader fields, not only within their own especial 

 department of research, but into neighboring grounds. Indeed, they 

 are discovering by this survey that what had appeared a wall of 

 obstruction on this side, and a line of demarkation on the other, has 

 been an illusion. As they approach for closer scrutiny, neither wall 

 nor line can be found. Their own field is broader than they supposed ; 

 they can travel on and on without discovering the first obstruction; 

 they find themselves within the vast field of facts and phenomena 

 without let or hindrance, save in the limitations of their own powers. 

 They find grouped around themselves still others who have entered 

 the field from other directions and, under similar conditions, at- 

 tracted by the same spirit of inquiry and led on by successes in re- 

 search, have set their faces toward a new future of promising dis- 

 covery. 



" Gathered to-day from different parts of the world, some of us 

 geologists and others physicists, we stimulate each other in a common 

 zeal and aid each other in a common search for the gems of truth 

 which this common ground shall reveal. We are to be told what has 

 already been done and what are some of the problems of the immedi- 

 ate future. This field is a most promising one: were I to act the seer 

 I should tell you that nowhere else within reach of human genius 

 and industry is there greater promise of return; out of the field of 

 geophysics are to come rewards of toil that shall give mankind a 

 clearer view into fundamental causes, and a firmer grasp upon its 

 natural environment, than elsewhere in the broad field of intellectual 

 accomplishment can be had. Stirring suggestions as to the origin of 

 the world and the physical activities springing from that creation 

 are already nerving investigators to action." 



