Ben Oostdam's Autobiography:

page 6

1960 WHOI "CHAIN 13"

Early in the morning of August 1, 1960, we sailed into the port of Helsinki, Finland. We enjoyed this fine city and I was most impressed with the Finn's linguistic capacity: in addition to their own special language with Hungarian/Tartar (?) roots, many of them also spoke Swedish, Russian, English and German! I also recall many housewives washing carpets along the quays.

We were here for the XII Congress of the International Union of Geodesy andGeophysics and listened to the opening speech of Dr. Tuzo Wilson, of future global tectonics - fame.
One morning when I was about to take out the sailfish for a spin, a crew-member asked me to show a visitor from the Congress around. I shook his hand and introduced myself, and he said: "Pettijohn". My response must have flattered him, because I exclaimed:"THE Pettijohn?", and when he asked: "Which one?", I just said: "Sedimentary Rocks". Yes, indeed, it was the author of the text I had practically learned by heart... - - BLO fecit 20020823 - next page - Contents