Rocknocker: A Geologist’s Memoir. George Devries Klein
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around tide tables. On days of mid-day high tides, I generally worked on inland outcrops. On days of early morning and evening high tides, I worked along the coast which had spectacular outcrops.
I enjoyed good weather most of the summer and completed my mapping, establishing a type section for the Triassic. Using sedimentary structures, I identified possible depositional settings.
Dr. Whitehead visited me together with Dr. Robert R. Shrock, head of the Geology and Geophysics Department at M.I.T. late in July, 1956. Shrock earned his PhD at Indiana University completing a definitive, widely cited published thesis on Silurian reefs in the upper Middle West. After earning his PhD, he was appointed to the faculty at the University of Wisconsin. Several years later, one of his colleagues, L. T. Meade, was appointed head of the geoscience program at M.I.T and invited Shrock to join him. Shrock agreed and eventually succeeded Meade as department head. He later became president of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists (SEPM, now the Society of Sedimentary Research), and served on a variety of significant national committees.
Both stayed in my hotel and I gave them a field trip to show the progress of my work. During lunch, Shrock told me they liked my work and asked about my future plans. I told him I wanted to earn a PhD, do research, preferably in a research university, and pursue my interests in sedimentology. I mentioned the colloquia by McKee and Fisk with which Shrock was familiar. He told me that given my background and interests, M.I.T. would not be a good place for me, but he would help me get into places wherever I applied. Whitehead offered to do the same. Shrock suggested I apply to Yale and work with John E. Sanders who had similar interests. Shrock also made it clear he would write a letter of recommendation only if I got one from Raymond C. Moore.
On completing my field work, I returned to KU for my second year with the goal of completing my Master’s and pursuing a PhD elsewhere. I enrolled in two courses that fall, with the third course being thesis credits. I enrolled in Dr. Andrew Ireland’s course in sedimentary petrology. Ireland earned a PhD with Pettijohn at the University of Chicago, worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Standard Oil Company of Texas before coming to KU. He was much loved by most graduate students. However, his course was a total waste of time. Instead of learning sedimentary petrology, it was a lab techniques course and most I knew. I earned an “A”, but got little out of it.
The second course I took was “Geological Development of the World” taught by Raymond C. Moore. The course focused on the type stratigraphic sections of Western Europe. The course met Saturday morning at 8:00 am, with a break around 10:00 am, and finished at noon. Each student was assigned a topic to research in the library and then present a 45 minute lecture to the class. We then discussed that paper before going to the next student presentation.
I knew in advance that Moore had a reputation of being very tough in his questioning and if one didn’t know the answer, he had various ways to make a student know that he was unimpressed. The first class meeting we were assigned topics and dismissed. During the second meeting, four presentations were made ahead of me so I wasn’t called on.
Given his reputation, I watched how Moore handled himself with students when he asked questions and a pattern emerged. He wanted to know if student knew the meaning of terms, and where localities occurred on a map. With that in mind, I reviewed my presentation for the next class checking definitions of critical terms, and map locations. During my presentation, I mentioned a term and he interrupted and asked what it meant. I answered and he was satisfied. He did it again after a few minutes, and he was satisfied.
During the rest of the semester, he NEVER asked me to define a term again. Clearly, he was trying to instill in each student the importance of doing one’s homework and knowing what one was talking about. If you did, he left you alone.
I live now in the greater Houston area and one of the city’s most prominent citizens is James Baker, former US Secretary of State. Baker, according to an article in “The Houston Chronicle,” came from a family of lawyers. The family firm had a paradigm known as ‘the Five P’s – Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.’ Moore was trying to instill a similar paradigm with KU geology students.
Later in the semester, during one of my presentations, he interrupted and asked me to locate something on a map. I did, but was off five miles. He got up, walked to the map, pointed to the correct spot, sat down and said nothing. I used that technique during my PhD dissertation defense several years later (Chapter 7).
Every now and then, Moore would talk off the cuff and outline critical principles and insights. I took notes on his comments.
Moore also discussed professional and career matters. His best advice: “Always go into an uncrowded field” to get early notice and develop a research reputation.
A week before the last class meeting, Moore explained that we would take a final exam during the last class. It consisted of everyone making a 15-minute presentation on one of the geological systems of the world. He assigned me the Permian System, so to prepare the 15 minute talk I reviewed all my course notes, and went to the library.
After a day of library research, I said to myself ‘There is no way I can review the Permian geology of the world in 15 minutes. Gee, George, you’re sunk! What are you going to do?’
I went through my notes again and compiled all the off the cuff comments Moore made about stratigraphic principles. Some were repeated many times.
My compilation of those principles was less than two pages, including his repeated comments.
Suddenly I realized if I talked about the Permian in terms of those principles I could review it in the time allotted. I planned accordingly.
On the last day of class, my fellow students successively got up to talk about their assigned geological system. They discussed the type sections and proceeded to describe the world’s geology of their system. When the 15 minutes were up, none finished. Moore cut them off. We started with the Precambrian and it was that way with every talk about the Precambrian and Paleozoic. My turn came and I quickly explained the type area of the Permian system. I then talked about the boundary problems of that system, explaining it in terms of all the stratigraphic principles Moore had discussed. I glanced at Moore and he sat there with his usual expressionless, poker face but was focusing on every word I said.
I finished in 13 minutes. Moore said “Well Klein, you have more time. Don’t you want to use it?”
I replied “No sir.” and sat down.
Jim Sorauf, who also took the class, told me afterwards, that I was the only one who talked about all the principles Moore reviewed during the semester. Given Jim’s experience, it left me with a good feeling.
Earlier during the semester, I made an appointment to see Moore and told him about my conversation with Shrock. I asked if he would write a letter of reference to another university.
Moore immediately asked, “What! Leave Kansas?”
I explained that I would complete all courses of interest to me when I would complete my Master’s degree in 1957. I also explained I found the language requirements at KU, as then promulgated, far more onerous than other places.
Moore replied, “Now you know why so many of my good students like Ellis Yochelson and Norman Newell went elsewhere. I’ll be sorry to see you go, but I’ll be happy to write those letters.”
After the final exam presentations were completed, I stopped by Moore’s office with all the reference forms for a National Science Foundation (NSF) pre-doctoral fellowship, and the four graduate schools to which I applied. He assured me he would back me. He gave me an “A” for my work in “Geological Development of the World.”
During the 1956-57 academic year, I earned my expenses as a Teaching Assistant in ‘Western Civilization.’ I applied for an assistantship in the geology department but Thompson and Youngquist turned me down. I saw an advertisement in the student newspaper that the Western Civilization program needed instructors. I talked to the director, Paul Heller, and applied. I received an appointment, including a tuition and fee waiver.
It turned out I was