64 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1255 



Cornell. In 1892 he is again at Tale, return- 

 ing in 1904 to Cornell, -where his life work 

 ■was finished. Sis years of his young man- 

 hood were spent at Yale in undergraduate and 

 graduate studies and eight years as professor 

 of geology. Just twice that time was devoted 

 to active service at Cornell. Tale thus shares 

 with Cornell the prestige which comes from a 

 great scientific name, and it is fitting that the 

 two universities should join in commemora- 

 tion of the life and services of Professor 

 Williams. 



The Tale records reveal little of Williams 

 as an undergraduate except that his class work 

 was well done, but it is easy to picture the 

 boy taking walks along the shore of Long 

 Island Sound collecting materials, bringing 

 them home for study, and building the founda- 

 tions for penetrating observation which later 

 yielded such large returns to science. For 

 Williams, the graduate student, the eager boy 

 already devoted to the search for tlie hidden 

 meaning of natural phenomena, the distinc- 

 tion between teacher and student broke down. 

 Williams was a member of a small company 

 of sympathetic, earnest men — faculty and stu- 

 dents — who together carried on their investi- 

 gations. The quality of his work as a gradu- 

 ate student is indicated by his thesis for the 

 doctorate, which is not the elaboration of a 

 task assigned by an instructor, but an ex- 

 haustive study and a significant contribution 

 to science. 



In 1892 Tale was confronted with a difScult 

 problem. It became necessary to select a suc- 

 cessor to James D. Dana, America's foremost 

 geologist, and to fill the chair which for nearly 

 a century had been made famous by Silliman- 

 and Dana. There were many able geologists 

 in the country, but Professor Dana insisted 

 on a man who combined preeminent attain- 

 ments with personal character and faith, for 

 the task in hand was not merely to present the 

 facts and principles and methods of geology 

 to successive groups of students, but to stand 

 as an interpreter of the truths of nature. 

 The doctrine of evolution in many quarters 

 appeared to be in conflict with Christian faith. 

 Great truths were to be reconciled and a 



great man was demanded for the task. Dana 

 chose Professor Williams. And so it came 

 about that after twenty years of distinguished 

 service at Cornell, Williams came to Yale as 

 Silliman professor of geology. He came at 

 the time when the great " Manual of Geology " 

 was taking final form, and took part in the 

 statement of the theory and facts of evolution 

 which brought the teaching of the " Manual " 

 in harmony with the leading scientific thought 

 of the day. 



In the early nineties at Tale little room was 

 found in the curriculum for geology. The 

 subject was offered only to jtmiors and seniors 

 and was so restricted that relatively few men 

 could elect it. The records show that during 

 the first two years of Professor Williams's 

 professorship students elected geology for no 

 particular reason, but soon the class was 

 found to consist of men who were seriously 

 interested in problems of nature and their 

 bearings on life. Williams was not a " xwpu- 

 lar " teacher, as voted by the senior class. He 

 knew no tricks of the lecture platform and 

 eared little for applause. ' He foimd it difficult 

 to formulate dramatic situations and impos- 

 sible to be dogmatic; his statements were ac- 

 companied by qualifications and exceptions. 

 Williams loved the truth as few men love 

 it; he was not content with half truths. The 

 effect of this style of teaching was easily seen 

 in the reaction of the class. At first the teach- 

 ing seemed confusing; few clear-cut sentences 

 could be written in a note book and cramming 

 for tests on the basis of catch phrases was a 

 very difficult task. Before the end of the 

 course, however, the class realized that under 

 the name of geology they were learning the 

 greatest lesson open to men — the method of 

 weighing evidence and thus arriving at truth. 

 Many students of Williams have duplicated 

 my experience. I came in from classes in phi- 

 losophy and classics and was surprised at the 

 method and content of the course. I asked 

 myself the question: Is this geology? I had 

 thought that geology was the study of rocks 

 and fossils and valuable minerals, but found 

 it a method of clear thinking — a road to the 

 fundamentals of intellectual and spiritual life. 



