WIIXIAM KEITH BROOKS — CONKUN 



rent of philosophy which has flowed down to us from the re- 

 mote past. 



In his review of this book, under the caption "A sage in 

 science," David Starr Jordan said : 



Brooks' lectures on the Foundations of Biology constitute a book- 

 that will live as a permanent addition to the common sense of science. 

 It belongs to literature as well as to science. It belongs to philosophy 

 as much as to either, for it is full of that fundamental wisdom about 

 realities which alone is worthy of the name of philosophy. Writers oi 

 literature have been divided into those with quotable sentences, such as 

 Emerson and Thoreau, and those whose style runs along without break 

 in the elucidation of matter in hand, as Hawthorne and Irving. To the 

 former class Brooks certainly belongs. His lectures are full of nuggets 

 of wisdom, products of deep thought as well as of careful observation. 

 There is not an idea fundamental to biology that is not touched and 

 made luminous by some of these sagacious paragraphs. Whether it be 

 to show the significance of some unappreciated fact, or to illustrate the 

 true meaning of some complex argument, or to brush away the fine- 

 spun rubbish of theory, the hand of the master is seen in every line. 

 . The stones which Doctor Brooks has chosen as "Foundations 

 of Zoology" will remain for centuries, most of them as long as human 

 wisdom shall endure. The volume is a permanent contribution to 

 human knowledge, the worthy crown of a life of wise thought as well 

 as of hard work and patient investigation. The biologists of America 

 have long since recognized Doctor Brooks as a master, and this volume, 

 the modern and scientific sequel to Agassiz's "Essay on Classification," 

 places him in the line of succession from the great interpreter of nature, 

 whose pupil and friend he was. 



HONORS, DEGREES, OFFICIAL POSITIONS. 



His abilities received early and generous recognition. Apart 

 from his university advancement he received many honors. 

 The honorary degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by 

 Williams College in 1893, by Hobart College in 1899, and, by 

 the University of Pennsylvania at the Franklin Bicentenary in 

 1906. In 1884, at the age of thirty-six, he was made a mem- 

 ber of the National Academy of Sciences. He was chosen a 

 member of the American Philosophical Society in 1886, and a 

 Councillor of the Society in 1906; an Associate Fellow of the 

 American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1892 ; resident 

 member of the Boston Society of Natural History in 1875, 

 and corresponding member in 1877 ; corresponding member of 



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