MEMORIAL OF C. R. VAN HISE 105 



never entered liis mind that dirterenees of opinion, even when they 

 amounted to petty eritieism, were to be taken personally. As lie often 

 expressed it, it was "all a part of the game," and any man who allowed 

 personal considerations to influence his judgment or to affect his temper 

 failed in playing the game. 



' Van Hise believed strongly in the use of working hypotheses as a 

 means of assembling and evaluating facts of observation and arriving at 

 final conclusions or the formulation of principles. He often cited the 

 fact that a rock specimen would make the same impression on the retina 

 of a child as on that of a trained geologist, and that it was necessary in 

 surveying a complex set of phenomena to bring to bear on it all of the 

 scientific principles and experiences available. In a bit of complex field- 

 work, his method was, after a preliminary size-up of the facts, to formu- 

 late some hypothesis. When adverse facts appeared, he instantly and 

 cheerfully abandoned his hypothesis — there was no pride of ownership — 

 but almost as quickly he formulated a new one to cover the new facts. 

 He applied to an unusual extent the principle of ^^multiple working 

 hypotheses" so ably used and advocated by Professor Chamberlin. For 

 this reason a long piece of investigative work under his guidance never 

 degenerated into a routine piece of observation. For those of us who 

 worked with him, it was necessary to be constantly alert to every con- 

 ceivable aspect of the situation, in order that we might be able to bring 

 the facts to bear for or against the working hypotheses likely to ])e 

 ''sprung'" on us. 



Van Hise's method of work left little room for accident or chance. 

 Believing firmly, as he did, that all matters are controlled by ascertain- 

 able laws, he was inclined to ascribe failure in any reasonable task, no 

 matter from what cause, to the lack of a sufficiently wide and deep 

 consideration of the problem. Even weather and health were considered 

 as factors, to be thought out as clearly as camp or laboratory equipment. 

 This does not mean that he was lacking in human sympathy in distress — 

 all who knew him will testify to his warm heart — but it did mean that 

 within limits he was unsparing of liimself and associates in tlie matter 

 of getting results. It was far easier to make extraordinary efforts to 

 accomplish these results in some way than to go back to Van Hise with 

 any story, however plausible, in which the end had been defeated by 

 causes which could possibly have been foreseen by the best use of 

 intellect. 



Finally, 1 would refer to one of Van Hise's qualities less generally 



