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Biographical Memoirs Volume 60 (1991) / Chapter Skim
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20. Howel Williams
Pages 394-406

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From page 395...
... Williams, through his own work and that of his students, was largely responsible for the emergence of volcanology as a rigorous branch of modern science. Few have left so pervasive an imprint on their hellish even fewer have inspired wider admiration or deeper affection.
From page 396...
... Curig aroused his interest in volcanism and lect him to the classic volcanic fields of the Eife} district of Germany and the Auvergne in central France. He returned with a firm resolve to make volcanic geology his principal work.
From page 397...
... Apart from a single seminar dealing with the geology of California, he took no formal courses while at Berkeley, devoting his time to field studies instead. He concentrated on the ancient volcanoes of the Sutter Buttes in the Sacramento Valley of California and on Lassen Peak, a recently active volcano in the southern part of the Cascade Range.
From page 398...
... He used petrographic techniques to trace the origin of stone used in the giant Olmec scillmtilre~ of ~ ~ Ante -=q' she r..lr <~. or Mexico, and in 1950, with the support of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, went to Nicaragua to examine ancient, human footprints near Managua.
From page 399...
... His courses in petrography and regional geology were illustrated by artistic, hand-drawn diagrams and lucid, colorful, descriptions that left an indelible impression on hundreds of students. His work tended to be more qualitative than quantitative; it emphasized sound descriptions and insightful, deductive reasoning based on observed field relations.
From page 400...
... Williams's fifty-year career spanned an era of dramatic changes in geology. The classical methods of scholarship, meticulous observations, and elegantly written monographs in which he was trainee!
From page 401...
... 1928 A recent volcanic eruption near Lassen Peak, California.
From page 402...
... Radium content of lavas from Lassen Volcanic National Park.
From page 403...
... :3-11. 1952 Volcanic history of the Meseta Central Occidental, Costa Rica.
From page 404...
... 32:1-64. 1957 Geologic maps of the Bend Quadrangle and of the central portion of the High Cascade Mountains.
From page 405...
... Volcanic history of Honduras.


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