Arthur Holmes, 1890-1965

Abstract

With the death on 20 September 1965 of Arthur Holmes, the Society has lost a geologist of great international distinction. Born on 14 January 1890 at Hebburn-on-Tyne, he was the son of David Holmes and Emily Dickinson. His father was a cabinetmaker and his mother a school-teacher, but Holmes was descended on both sides from Northumberland farming stock, of which he was justly proud. He retained all through his life an affection for the Northumbrian countryside. He was educated at Gateshead High School, here receiving the first glimpse of the world of geology to which he was to devote his life, through the interest of his physics master who introduced him to Kelvin’s Addresses. From these he learned about the long controversy between Kelvin and the geologists. Kelvin, starting from the assumption that the earth had cooled from a molten state, estimated that no more than 40 million years could have elapsed since it solidified; whereas geological opinion, confronted by the slowness of earth processes, held that a much longer span was needed. Thus, through physics, Holmes was introduced to earth science, in which his interest was further aroused by reading E. Suess’s great geological masterpiece, Das Antlitz der Erde, at that time recently translated into English.