IN MEMORY OF PROFESSOR AMADEUS WILLIAM GRABAU (1870-1946) ON THE SEMICENTENNIAL OF HIS DEATH

摘要

A.W. Grabau (1870-1946), one of the world's greatest sedimentary geologists divided his working life between the United States (1890-1920) and China (1920-1946). My early acquaintance with the publications of Grabau was through one of my fellow students Mrs. Mary Welleck Garretson (1896-1971) who had been a student of Grabau's at Columbia University. Grabau served as Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before he joined the faculty of Columbia University. Grabau may truly be considered the Father of Modern Sedimentology. This paper focuses on (1) Mary Garretson's recollections of Grabau; (2) surviving correspondence in the Archives of the Geological Survey of China which include handwritten letters in German script addressed by Johannes Walther (1860 - 1937) to Grabau which reveal an intimate personal friendship; and (3) glimpses of Grabau's personal life. Grabau's tomb is located in a pleasant memorial park of the campus of the new university of Beijing, where a white marble headstone with English and Chinese inscriptions adorns his grave.