SIERRA CLUB BULLETIN 



VOLUME 

 TEN 



NUMBER 

 FOUR 



SAN FRANCISCO 



JANUARY 

 I919 



r 



GROVE KARL GILBERT, THE MAN* 



By C. Hart Merriam 



E are gathered here this evening to pay tribute to the 



V V memory of a colleague and friend — a man whose studies 

 were models of thoroughness, whose presentation of results in 

 the diverse fields of geology, geography, physiography, biology, 

 ethnology, astronomy, physics, and mathematics, models of 

 clearness and accuracy of expression. 



Gilbert's college course was only the beginning of his educa- 

 tion, for throughout his lifetime he was continually referring 

 to dictionaries, encyclopedias and other books of reference — his 

 habit of mind demanding precise knowledge on an incredible 

 number and diversity of subjects.f 



In the discussion of problems it was his habit to recite the 

 facts, sometimes adding what seemed to his analytical mind 

 the natural inference and conclusion, sometimes suggesting 

 more than one explanation, but without reiteration or argu- 



*Read at Memorial meeting of Geological Society of Washington, January 22, 

 1919. 



Dr. Gilbert was for many years a member of the Sierra Club and contributed 

 articles on geological features of the Sierra to the Club Bulletin. (Vol. V, pp. 

 20, 211 and 279; Vol. VI, p. 225.) We first knew him intimately on the 1903 outing 

 of the Club to Kern River Canon and Mt. Whitney. There he gave evidence of his 

 big-hearted, genial qualities and introduced the younger members of the party to 

 new games and stories about the campfire. His youthful spirit at once endeared 

 himself in the hearts of all. — The Editors. 



t In this connection it may not be amiss to record the fact that the few books he 

 kept close at hand were mainly Greek, Latin, French, German, and English diction- 

 aries; British and American enclyclopedias, and technical works on geology, astron- 

 omy, and mathematics. 



