This article was downloaded by: [Case Western Reserve University]On: 17 October 2014, At: 14:19Publisher: Taylor & FrancisInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T3JH, UK

New Zealand Journal ofGeology and GeophysicsPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tnzg20

Professor R. S. AllanPublished online: 09 Jan 2012.

To cite this article: (1966) Professor R. S. Allan, New Zealand Journal of Geologyand Geophysics, 9:4, 373-373, DOI: 10.1080/00288306.1966.10422479

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00288306.1966.10422479

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of allthe information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on ourplatform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensorsmake no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy,completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views ofthe authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis.The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should beindependently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor andFrancis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings,demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, inrelation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private studypurposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution,reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any formto anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use canbe found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

NEW ZEALAND

JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS ROBIN S. ALLAN MEMORIAL ISSUE

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Wellington

Editor: B. W. Collins

Assistant Editor: Virginia Gray

VOLUME 9 1966 NUMBER 4

Editorial Note

PROFESSOR· R. S. ALLAN

When about a year ago the Editor was approached by a group of Professor Allan's ex-students with the suggestion that an issue of the Journal should be devoted to commemorating his retirement from the chair of geology at the University of Canterbury, he, as an ex-student of Allan's himself, could not fail to be sympathetic. This issue, then, was planned to honour Professor Allan on the occasion of his retirement, but his sudden death early in July this year has necessitated its now being dedicated to his memory.

As with the Cotton Issue earlier this year no attempt has been made to solicit articles for this number. With the exception of a few of the shorter and more personal notes, the bibliography, and this editorial, most of the contributions have been in the editor's hands awaiting publication for some time. One or two articles were received more recently, after the news had leaked out that the issue was being prepared. Others that would have been equally suitable have had to be omitted for lack of space and editorial time. For the selection of material published the editor takes full responsibility, and he apologises to those colleagues, ex-students, and friends of Professor Allan who might have wished to be represented.

Allan's main contributions to geology were undoubtedly his work on the paleontology and stratigraphy of the Brachiopoda, his application of the principles of paleoecology to stratigraphic classification and correlation, and the communication of his enthusiasm to his students. He was always an inspiring teacher, and his students have often gratefully acknowledged his influence on their careers. Some examples will be found in this issue. But

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Cas

e W

este

rn R

eser

ve U

nive

rsity

] at

14:

19 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

374 N.Z. JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS VOL. 9

in the much broader field of science in New Zealand generally, Allan will also be long remembered. As a university administrator, as a leader in the Royal Society of New Zealand, and through his long association with the Canterbury Museum (in which he followed in the footsteps of his pre· decessors in the chair of geology at Canterbury), he has left his mark. He was one of the first to advocate the changes in the constitution and organisa­tion of the Royal Society of New Zealand that have recently been put into effect. His thoughtful writings on the scientific method, the organisation of scientific research, and the necessity for freedom in the prosecution and publication of scientific inquiry deserve continued consideration: some extracts are reprinted here, as they seem to be too little known to the younger generation of New Zealand scientists.

In the field of bibliography, science in New Zealand owes much to Professor Allan. His card index to New Zealand geological publications was the basis for the bibliography issued in 1951 and 1952 that has served a useful purpose for some 15 years-soon to be replaced by a printed biblio­graphy to be issued as a Bulletin by the N.Z. Geological Survey. Other bibliographies compiled or inspired by him are mentioned on a later page. The Editor perhaps may be excused for acknowledging here his own personal debt to Dr Allan for first interesting him in this activity.

As an editor himself, Professor Allan has also done notable work: he was responsible for the volume Liberty and Learning published in 1950, to honour Sir James Hight on his retirement from the positions of Professor of History and Rector of Canterbury University College. And for many years he edited a University Newsletter, first for Canterbury, and later for the University of New Zealand until its dissolution. Professor Allan was also chairman of the General Editorial Committee of the Seventh Pacific Science Congress, which met in Auckland and Wellington in 1949, and supervised the publication of the Proceedings of the Congress in seven volumes. It may be noted incidentally that this memorial Jo'urn~ is issued under the joint editorship of two of Professor Allan's former students.

That Allan's influence extended beyond his own students, and even beyond New Zealand, is well shown by the responsible positions he held in the Pacific Science Association, in which he did notable work as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Datum-Planes in the Geological History of the Pacific Region, and as New Zealand representative on the Pacific Science Council. Another example of his influence is the statement by Dr Alan B. Shaw, in the preface to his recent book Time in Stratigraphy (McGraw­Hill, New York, 1964):

The writing of this book has been influenced by many things, some of them perhaps not consciously known to me. Among published writings perhaps the admonition of Allan (1948) that the principles of stratigraphy needed rethinking was the first seed.

The "admonition" of Allan's here referred to is reprinted on a later page. Professor Allan would no doubt have approved Dr Shaw's thesis in this book "that fossils are the only practical means now available for making time correlations in nonvo1canic sedimentary sequences". This indeed was the mainspring in Allan's own specialised research, together with his insistence on what he called "the paleoecological point of view", which

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Cas

e W

este

rn R

eser

ve U

nive

rsity

] at

14:

19 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

No.4 EDITORIAL NOTE 375

implies that stratigraphy "must be based on a full understanding of modern ideas in the related fields of sedimentation and ecology"'. Allan's latest statement of his philosophy on this topic appears on a later page.

Professor Allan was always a staunch advocate of cooperation between Government and University scientists. It is therefore a pleasure to be able to record that just before his retirement arrangements were completed for the accommodation of the Christchurch branch office of the New Zealand Geological Survey in the new Geology Department building on the Ham campus of the University of Canterbury. This will provide opportunities for closer liaison between the University and at least one group of Government scientists, and it was Dr Allan's hope that it would form a pattern for further collaboration.

Much more could be said, but this note is not intended to serve as an obituary notice. It is merely to introduce a part of this Journal dedicated gratefully to the memory of a paleontologist, a stimulating teacher of geology, a scientist with more than a touch of the philosopher, and an indefatigable worker for the cause of science.

-B.W.C.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Cas

e W

este

rn R

eser

ve U

nive

rsity

] at

14:

19 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

376

1900 1916-19 1920-25

1926---29 1930 1931

1936---37 1937 1940 1943 1945

ROBIN SUTCLIFFE ALLAN

CURRICULUM VITAE

Born, Dunedin, New Zealand, 7 September Otago Boys' High School

VOL. 9

Otago University; M.Se. with First Class Honours In Geology, Von Haast Prize, 1851 Exhibition Science Scholar

Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, England; Ph.D. National Research Scholar at Otago University Elected Fellow of the Geological Society of London; appointed

Lecturer-in-Charge of geology and physical geography at Canterbury University College

Acting Curator of the Canterbury Museum President of the Canterbury Branch of the Royal Society of N.Z. Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (F.R.S.N.z.) D.Se. (University of New Zealand) Appointed Professor of Geology at Canterbury University Col­

lege (now the University of Canterbury) 1945-51 Professorial Board representative on the University Council 1946--60 Member of the Academic Board of the University of New

Zealand 1947

1947---<50 1949

1949-52 1948---<56

1953

1958---<50 1960

1965 1966

Chairman of the Geology Section of the Sixth New Zealand Science Congress

Member of the Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand President of the Canterbury Branch of the Royal Society of N.z.;

chairman of the Christchurch Session of the Seventh Pacific Science Congress

Member of the Senate of the University of New Zealand. Foundation Member and period as Chairman (1954--59) of the

Canterbury Museum Trust Board Chairman of the Committee on Datum Planes of the Eighth

Pacific Science Congress, Manila President of the Royal Society of New Zealand President of the Tenth New Zealand Science Congress, Welling­

ton Retired from professorship and elected Professor Emeritus Died, Christchurch, 5 July

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Cas

e W

este

rn R

eser

ve U

nive

rsity

] at

14:

19 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

No.4 377

EXTRACTS FROM THE WRITINGS OF R. S. ALLAN

In 1862 Thomas Henry Huxley, a paleontologist and a rebel, ... saw fit to question the views then current. . . . He argued, that all the paleontologist could establish by study of assemblages of fossils was that they succeeded each other in the same order, but that similarity of succession was not the same thing as identity in time ....

Huxley's bomb·shell was a dud .... Yet the fundamental as~umption which Huxley was attacking, that geological contemporaneity is the same as chronological synchrony, was logically unsound.

Huxley was right to question and criticise. Stratigraphers need a Huxley at the moment. Our science is tied to hypotheses and concepts which have lost their vitality. It seems to me that the basic principles ot stratigraphy need rethinking. .

-Geological Correlation and Paleoecology (1948)

It is well to bear in mind that a scheme of classification is but a means to an end. The various stage-names are primarily tools for the convenience of the strati­grapher. It is obvious that the better the tool the better will be the use of it in skilled hands. . . .

Finally the writer puts forward a plea for greater accuracy in the use of stage names. These are scientific terms, and should have a precise meaning.

-Stage Names (1933)

Finally . . . the Chairman would make a plea for greater accuracy in inter­regional correlation in the Pacific region. The literature contains too many examples of correlation based on inadequate criteria; of results given with an assurance which a dispassionate analysis of the data fails to warrant; and of the synchronisation of events with a degree of refinement and precision which can only be misleading because it is patently fictitious.

It would seem that students of this discipline have, in some measure failed to set sufficiently high standards; that they have approached their task with inadequate techniques; that they have been prepared to generalise on inadequate data. In short, the problem of the establishment and correlation of datum-planes has not been studied with sufficient critical vigour.

It is the hope of the Chairman that the work of this Standing Committee will point the way to a more constructive, fruitful and exact approach to problems of correlation, for they are basic to the growth and vigour of historical geology.

-Datum-planes (1956)

Basic research cannot be planned; nor can it flourish under bureaucratic controls and in an atmosphere of secrecy. It demands for its growth conditions of complete freedom.

The proper use of the scientific method requires freedom of speech, freedom to publish results, freedom from controls, and that freedom to interchange ideas and techniques which can come only through personal contacts and travel.

The scientific method involves two things: first, hypotheses, and, secondly, a rigorous testing of the consequences of the hypotheses by observation or experiment­a testing aimed at falsification. It is this combination of bold speculation and the ruthless persecution of these same speculations by testing that is something quite new in human history. It is this union of boldness and caution which is responsible for the great liberating influence of science.

-Mission of Goodwill (1949)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Cas

e W

este

rn R

eser

ve U

nive

rsity

] at

14:

19 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

378 N.Z. JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS VOL. 9

I wish to reiterate my profound belief that invaluable as team-work and co­operation may be, and necessary as planning and policy-making may be deemed, yet the factor of prime significance in science is the thinking, creative individual.

... I wish to stress this point: one can plan the attack on the solution of ad hoc problems which involve only known techniques and tested hypotheses; one can plan the application of scientific theories to the needs of technology and industry; one can plan to test predictions from scientific hypotheses; but one cannot plan for discovery. Fruitful research implies new ideas, and the birth of an idea is a creative act, subiective, intuitive, and autonomous; it cannot be directed or forced or planned.

-Purpose of Science Congresses (1961)

Last year I expressed the need for closer cooperation between the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the universities and expressed my belief "that only good could come of close physical juxtaposition of units of the Department on University sites". I note with pleasure that it is Council policy to work for maximum cooperation and I am delighted that during the last twelve months plans have been made to forge closer links with several university institutions. This is a policy of the greatest significance for the fuller development of scientific work in the Dominion: it cannot be commended too highly.

-Presidential Address to Royal Society of N.Z., 1960 (1961)

I hold with deep conviction the view that the great composers, the great poets and writers, the luminous artists are one with the great theorists among the scientists; that the creative act, in whatever realm, is a unity ....

The great advances in science follow from bold generalisations concerning problems which fire the imagination, and which cry out for an answer. The fruitful, germinal ideas stem from the individual, have their genesis in one mind, or in a few; and their birth requires a favourable enviwnment in which tolerance, understanding and freedom are essential components.

-Presidential Address to Royal Society of N.Z. 1959 (1959)

The first step towards the solution of a scientific problem is not the collection of data, not the recording of observations, but an intuitive, creative act, identical in all respects with the creative act of the artist. It involves cerebration and imagination; it is the formulation of an idea, theory, hypothesis, law, principle or generalisation . . . . In its crudest form it involves no more than the making of a guess or an assumption, but with genius it becomes one of the great adventures of the human mind; exciting, satisfying and fruitful. . . .

In the second step of the scientific method the imaginative generalisation, the flash of vision, the tentative assumption, is subjected to the austerity of reason. The logical technique of deduction ... is applied to the hypothesis and by this process its potentialities are laid bare .... The testing process is shared by all active workers in the particular field. . . .

It is often stated that the object of testing is to verify or confirm an hypothesis. I prefer to follow Popper, who holds that all we can do is to test hypotheses severely and to eliminate the false ones.

. . . Science consists of a series of hypotheses which have not yet been falsified, but which are still vulnerable. It is, therefore, constantly in a state of flux and growth, constantly giving up the false and constan,tiy moving forward as new generalisations replace the old. This is most confusing and bewildering to those whose minds are conservative or reactionary; it is anathema to those whose temper is traditional and dogmatic.

-Presidential Address (1959)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Cas

e W

este

rn R

eser

ve U

nive

rsity

] at

14:

19 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

No.4 EXTRACTS 379

We believe that the University fails ... if the teaching it provides is not imbued with the spirit of enquiry as it is embodied in the tradition of research .... The commonly held view that the University is primarily a teaching institution should be abandoned, and the University should be looked upon as an institution in which the spirit of free inquiry is preserved and cultivated ....

Beyond providing [the] framework, no organisation of research within the University should be attempted. University .research should be free. It should be directed merely by the initiative of the individual worker, and by his enthusiasm for his chosen problem.

-Research and the University, R. S. Allan and others (1945)

Freedom to publish the results of scientific enquiry is essential for the prosecution of fundamental research. Popper has shown the importance of this social aspect of scientific method which leads to scientific objectivity. It results not from the attempts of individual scientists to be objective, but from the cooperation of many scientists, who, in laboratories, in congresses, in scientific societies, and through the medium of scientific periodicals, are prepared to submit their theories to the free criticism of their peers, and to discard or modify those theories if they fail to withstand such public criticism.

-Science in the Post-war World (1950)

A scientist is one who tries to describe and explain certain limited fields of experience by use of the scientific method; he becomes a scientist only in so far as he makes use of this technique. When confronted with a problem he starts with an hypothesis; then follows the logical process of deducing the consequences of the hypothesis; and, finally, attempts are made, by observation or experiment, to falsify the deductions.

I follow Karl Popper in this formulation of the scientific method; it works if enough and sufficiently varied hypotheses are forthcoming and provided that the attempts to falsify are sufficiently thorough .

. . . This method of tackling problems has proved a mighty tool; not only has it made possible this age of technology in which we live; but it has also enabled its most gifted exponents to push back the borders of the unknown to our enormous gain. It has exerted a great liberating influence in man's intellectual growth; for it combines with the creative intuitive act of speculation, a process of rigorous testing.

-Science in the Post-war World (1950)

I suggest to you that the lesson is clear: our task as members of a scientific society is to foster fundamental research; to uphold these freedoms which make it possible; to oppose fearlessly those doctrines which would inhibit or curb its free flowering; and to assist to the limit of our resources in the international exchange of scientific knowledge.

-Science in the Post-war World (1950)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Cas

e W

este

rn R

eser

ve U

nive

rsity

] at

14:

19 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014

380 N.Z. JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS VOL. 9

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Cas

e W

este

rn R

eser

ve U

nive

rsity

] at

14:

19 1

7 O

ctob

er 2

014