212 
the Committee on Pacific Exploration of the 
National Research Council, and local arrange- 
ments were made by a committee appointed 
by the Governor of Hawaii and acting as a 
committee of the Pan-Pacific Union. The 
chairman of the congress was Professor Her- 
bert E. Gregory, Director of Bishop Museum 
in Honolulu and Silliman Professor of Ge- 
ology at Yale; the vice-chairman and secretary 
was Dr. Arthur L. Dean, President of the 
University of Hawaii, 
The purpose of the congress was "to out- 
line the scientific problems of the Pacific 
Ocean region and suggest methods for their 
solution. The conference undertook to take 
stock of our present knowledge of the Pacific 
area, its geography and geology, its plants 
and animals and the races of men which in- 
habit it, and proceeding from this compre- 
hensive view to formulate the programs for 
future research.” 
In addition to defining the purpose of the 
congresses, and the scope of the program, the 
first congress set other important precedents. 
First, the congresses are nongovernmental, 
meaning that the scientists meet and discuss 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL XIII, April, 1959 
their problems as individuals and not as the 
representatives of their governments. Second, 
field trips are as much a part of the scientific 
program as the technical sessions. The first 
congress spent a week on the island of Ha- 
waii, concentrating on the volcano Kilauea, 
which was obligingly active. The field trips 
are planned and led by the local scientists and 
are their opportunity to discuss in the field 
their particular problems. 
Since that first congress in Honolulu, eight 
further Pacific Science Congresses have been 
held — Australia (1923), Japan (1926), Nether- 
lands Indies (1929), Canada (1933), Cali- 
fornia, U.S.A. (1939), New Zealand (1949), 
Philippines (1953), and Thailand (1957). The 
Tenth Congress, returning to Hawaii, is 
planned for the last week of August and the 
first week of September, 1961. 
Dr. Laurence H. Snyder will be president 
of the Tenth Pacific Science Congress. Dr, 
Snyder, who has accepted, is president of the 
University of Hawaii and a distinguished 
scholar in human genetics. He is immediate 
past president of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science. 
