John Clarke

April 15, 1857 (age 68)

Canandaigua, New York, United States

In 1878 Clarke taught in the Canandaigua Academy, but in 1878 returned to Amherst as a temporary assistant to Prof. B. K. Emerson. In 1880 he taught science classes in the Utica Free Academy whence he was called to become instructor in geology, mineralogy, and zoology at Smith College. He spent the year 1884 in lecturing on science and teaching German in the Massachusetts Agricultural College. On January 1, 1886, he received an appointment as assistant to Prof. James Hall, state paleontologist, at Albany, New York. Here he continued for the remainder of his life, teaching also in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and on Hall’s death in 1898 succeeding him as state paleontologist. He was instrumental in bringing about the mapping of nearly one-half the station on a scale of one mile to the inch and brought the knowledge of New York geology and its mineral industry to a condition of which it may be said that “no equal area in America is so completely known and understood. ” In 1904 he also became the State Geologist and Paleontologist, director of the State Museum and of the Science Department, University of the State of New York. Under his direction was completed the new museum building in 1913 and the installation of its collections, forming what has been said to be the best State Museum in America, containing upward of 7, 000 types of specimens of invertebrate fossils invaluable to the scientific worker, and a remarkably fine series of restorations of early geological invertebrate forms. A reproduction to scale of the Gilboa Devonian forest furnishes an unrivaled picture of the oldest forest known.

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book

THE HEART OF GASPE :Sketches in the Guft of St. Lawrence

Guelph Fauna in the State of New York (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from Guelph Fauna in the State of New York A fau...)

The Oriskany fauna of Becraft Mountain, Columbia County, N: Y

(This book is a replica, produced from digital images of t...)

L'île Percée; The Finial of the St. Lawrence or Gaspé Flaneries: Being a Blend of Reveries and Realities; Of History and Science; Of Description and ... a Signpost to the Traveler (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from L'île Percée; The Finial of the St. Lawrence...)

Excerpt from L'île Percée; The Finial of the St. Lawrence or Gaspé Flaneries: Being a Blend of Reveries and Realities; Of History and Science; Of Description and Narrative; As Also a Signpost to the Traveler Blen learned little of human anatomy studying it only from the outside or from a few accidental gashes on the body. We may search the whole length and breadth of our great mountain system of eastern North America - the Appalachians - and find no more than here and there a gash or surface scratch to tell the secret of its making. But on the coasts of Percé the scalpel of the sea has gone deep and here stand exposed, riotously incarnadined, the very penetralia of the mountain system. Over such intimate structures the haruspex read the future; here he reads the past. And so, amid other charms of beauty and humanity, Percé and her coast hold out this brilliant record of a long past. And there are added features in her geology which implant added beauty to her lines and are not elsewhere to be seen. These facts invite more than a passing interest in a spot otherwise natu rally attractive and physically inspiring. It is a geologist who tells this story and who invites his reader to look at the coasts of Percé through hi eyes. If you draw back with an unexpressed shudder at the thought of scrutinizing and analyzing the boun ties of Providence with a cold scientific glare, let us have this matter out between us here at the start. The appreciation of beauty in nature depends on the capacity of the heart to make a response in kind. The tones of a great organ must kindle sympathetic tones somewhere, in arch or roof, choir or sanctuary, if their resonance is to rise to highest dignity and beauty. The appreciation of a landscape is not alone to be sensible of its lights and shadows, the composi tion of its color scheme, not even of its genius - the special grace by which it captivates and dictates; in which it declares its unlikeness to any other. The artist will draw his landscape as he sees it, or its genius as he apprehends it. So he may even paint the spirit of the lily. He may express the results of nature's work as they seem to him, and try within the limitations of his brush or clay to delineate the soul behind them. The long processes which effected these results, the constant succession of changes throughwhich the landscape or the lily has attained its present aspect, so far his portrayal will hardly reach. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Eurypterida of New York, Volume 1

(This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

James Hall of Albany, Geologist and Palaeontologist, 1811-1898 - Scholar's Choice Edition

( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

Early Devonic History of New York and Eastern North America Volume 92

(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

Notes on the Geology of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from Notes on the Geology of the Gulf of St. Lawr...)

John Mason Clarke Edit Profile

educator geologist paleontologist author

Background

John Mason Clarke was born on April 15, 1857 in Canandaigua, New York, United States. His father was Noah Clarke whose ancestors William Clarke and his wife Sarah came to America in 1630 on the sailing vessel William and John and settled in 1636 in Dorchester, Massachusetts. His mother was Laura Mason (Merrill) Clarke of Castleton, Vermont, whose ancestors were among the Mayflower company. John Clarke’s scientific tendencies were early manifested and doubtless in part inherited, for his father for fifty years taught the sciences in Canandaigua Academy of which he was principal. Environment was, however, also favorable. “Born of a father who was a lover and teacher of nature, and in a village whose rocks are replete with Devonian fossils, he began collecting the latter when he was but six years of age”.

Education

Clarke received his early training at the Canandaigua Academy and entered Amherst College in 1874 to graduate in 1877. In 1883 he went abroad, studying with Professor von Koenen in Gottingen.

Career

In 1878 Clarke taught in the Canandaigua Academy, but in 1878 returned to Amherst as a temporary assistant to Prof. B. K. Emerson. In 1880 he taught science classes in the Utica Free Academy whence he was called to become instructor in geology, mineralogy, and zoology at Smith College. He spent the year 1884 in lecturing on science and teaching German in the Massachusetts Agricultural College.

On January 1, 1886, he received an appointment as assistant to Prof. James Hall, state paleontologist, at Albany, New York. Here he continued for the remainder of his life, teaching also in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and on Hall’s death in 1898 succeeding him as state paleontologist. He was instrumental in bringing about the mapping of nearly one-half the station on a scale of one mile to the inch and brought the knowledge of New York geology and its mineral industry to a condition of which it may be said that “no equal area in America is so completely known and understood. ”

In 1904 he also became the State Geologist and Paleontologist, director of the State Museum and of the Science Department, University of the State of New York. Under his direction was completed the new museum building in 1913 and the installation of its collections, forming what has been said to be the best State Museum in America, containing upward of 7, 000 types of specimens of invertebrate fossils invaluable to the scientific worker, and a remarkably fine series of restorations of early geological invertebrate forms. A reproduction to scale of the Gilboa Devonian forest furnishes an unrivaled picture of the oldest forest known.

Achievements

John Mason Clarke was a man of culture, a ready speaker and a writer of no ordinary charm and ability. He became one of the world’s authorities on the Devonian Age and the author of some 150 papers on various scientific subjects. He received the Hayden Gold Medal of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, the Spindiaroff prize of the International Geological Congress in Stockholm, the Thompson Medal for distinguished service in geology from the National Academy of Sciences and the gold medal of the Wild Life Permanent Protective Fund. He was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and belonged to nearly a score of learned societies.

Works

THE HEART OF GASPE :Sketches in the Guft of St. Lawrence THE HEART OF GASPE :Sketches in the Guft of St. Lawrence

Guelph Fauna in the State of New York (Classic Reprint) Guelph Fauna in the State of New York (Classic Reprint)

The Oriskany fauna of Becraft Mountain, Columbia County, N: Y The Oriskany fauna of Becraft Mountain, Columbia County, N: Y

$L\'\u00EEle Perc\u00E9e; The Finial of the St. Lawrence or Gasp\u00E9 Flaneries: Being a Blend of Reveries and Realities; Of History and Science; Of Description and ... a Signpost to the Traveler (Classic Reprint) L\'\u00EEle Perc\u00E9e; The Finial of the St. Lawrence or Gasp\u00E9 Flaneries: Being a Blend of Reveries and Realities; Of History and Science; Of Description and ... a Signpost to the Traveler (Classic Reprint)$ The Eurypterida of New York, Volume 1 The Eurypterida of New York, Volume 1

The Eurypterida of New York, Volume 1 The Eurypterida of New York, Volume 1

$James Hall of Albany, Geologist and Palaeontologist, 1811-1898 - Scholar\'s Choice Edition James Hall of Albany, Geologist and Palaeontologist, 1811-1898 - Scholar\'s Choice Edition$ Early Devonic History of New York and Eastern North America Volume 92 Early Devonic History of New York and Eastern North America Volume 92

Early Devonic History of New York and Eastern North America Volume 92 Early Devonic History of New York and Eastern North America Volume 92

Notes on the Geology of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Classic Reprint) Notes on the Geology of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Classic Reprint)

book
- Guelph Fauna in the State of New York (Classic Reprint)
  (Excerpt from Guelph Fauna in the State of New York A fau...)
- Early Devonic History of New York and Eastern North America Volume 92
  (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
- The Eurypterida of New York, Volume 1
  (This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)
- James Hall of Albany, Geologist and Palaeontologist, 1811-1898 - Scholar's Choice Edition
  ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
- The Oriskany fauna of Becraft Mountain, Columbia County, N: Y
  (This book is a replica, produced from digital images of t...)
- Notes on the Geology of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Classic Reprint)
  (Excerpt from Notes on the Geology of the Gulf of St. Lawr...)
- L'île Percée; The Finial of the St. Lawrence or Gaspé Flaneries: Being a Blend of Reveries and Realities; Of History and Science; Of Description and ... a Signpost to the Traveler (Classic Reprint)
  (Excerpt from L'île Percée; The Finial of the St. Lawrence...)
- THE HEART OF GASPE :Sketches in the Guft of St. Lawrence

Membership

Clarke belonged to nearly a score of learned societies. He was the first president of the Paleontological Society in 1908, then served as vice president of the Geological Society of America in 1909 and its president in 1916.

Personality

Clarke was a delightful conversationalist and good raconteur. He was usually in amiable mood but was capable of intense likes and dislikes and was a master of sarcasm.

Connections

Clarke was twice married: first to Mrs. Emma Sill of Philadelphia; second to Mrs. Fannie V. Bosler, also of Philadelphia.

Father:: Noah Turner Clarke
Mother:: Laura Mason (Merrill) Clarke
Spouse:: Fannie V. Bosler
Spouse:: Emma Sill

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John Clarke

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book

THE HEART OF GASPE :Sketches in the Guft of St. Lawrence

Guelph Fauna in the State of New York (Classic Reprint)

The Oriskany fauna of Becraft Mountain, Columbia County, N: Y

L'île Percée; The Finial of the St. Lawrence or Gaspé Flaneries: Being a Blend of Reveries and Realities; Of History and Science; Of Description and ... a Signpost to the Traveler (Classic Reprint)

The Eurypterida of New York, Volume 1

James Hall of Albany, Geologist and Palaeontologist, 1811-1898 - Scholar's Choice Edition

Early Devonic History of New York and Eastern North America Volume 92

Notes on the Geology of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Classic Reprint)

John Mason Clarke Edit Profile

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Career

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Works

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