Personal Anecdotes

"Three things about Sydney continue to impress me deeply. In the first place, there is his humanity, kindness and willingness to help all those who may seek his advice. Next, I would put his modesty, so marked whenever one calls to mind his remarkable contributions to such a wide field of subjects. Third, there is his work. I think it will not be out of place if I refer to an after-dinner discussion at a meeting at the Royal Society Club in 1944, on the origin of the aurora borealis. This and many other allied subjects led to the assembled party to agree that, at its best, the human mind is the most remarkable of all manifestations of that peculiar assemblage of matter which is the brain.

To me, Chapman is the greatest brain and one of the finest individuals which this country has produced in this century."

G. Finch, Oxford, England

"Several years ago my wife, Betty, and I were supervising McIntosh Hall. As we sat at the window eating our dinner one early spring day, we observed Dr. Chapman walking south across the campus with the characteristic British swinging of both arms. I have applauded this sort of "marching" ever since I observed the Aussies during World War II. Approximately twenty-five minutes later we observed Dr. Chapman retracing his steps, this time going north. I noticed that he was only swinging his right hand and arm. As he passed rather close to our window I noticed that he was holding several early spring flowers in his left hand. He had walked down to the south bluff of the campus and picked them to bring them home to his wife."

C. J. Keim, College, Alaska

"Whenever a student could not precisely solve an assigned "exercise," Professor Chapman would not simply mark it wrong and correct it but would give his student a hint and encourage him to "try again." If Professor Chapman noticed that his student had interest and indefatigability in solving the same problem, he would encourage his student time after time until the problem was solved completely."

Y. S. Wong, College, Alaska

"When I think of Sydney Chapman, some small and apparently quite insignificant incidents come to my mind. I recall how in the narrow corridor of an overcrowded bus in Moscow, I could not persuade Chapman to occupy one of the front seats reserved for elderly people; how at my house he attentively examined Russian books; how in a Parisian care, the late Mrs. Chapman (the warm memory of whose charm I have preserved as a result of this unique incident) vigorously insisted that her husband should speak in German; and how in the Moscow Assembly of the IGY, he prepared part of his closing presidential speech in Russian and succeeded in pronouncing distinctly and clearly, even though the language was almost unknown to him.

Modesty and shyness, human attitude toward people, interest in and regard for the way of life and the customs of another country---all these manifestations of the great human soul of this great untiring scientific worker appear reflected in these small incidents."

A. Lebedinsky, Moscow, U.S.S.R.