PHYSICS' 



Some forty years ago a young American physicist 

 conceived, planned, and executed an experiment of 

 unusual difficulty. He impressed upon a small electric 

 charge a speed so great that this charge, while in motion, 

 exhibited the magnetic properties of an ordinary electric 

 current a phenomenon of first importance. The 

 manipulative skill required for this experiment was so 

 great that more than one European physicist, attempting 

 to repeat the process, failed. Most noteworthy of these 

 failures was that of Cremieu, working under the auspices 

 of the Sorbonne, with an equipment which left little 

 to be desired. In the meantime (1900), the original work 

 had been repeated and verified by another young Ameri- 

 can physicist, who was invited by the University of Paris 

 to come to France and repeat the experiment in conjunc- 

 tion with Cremieu, in order that all doubt might be re- 

 solved and the facts of the case established. The invita- 

 tion was accepted; the two men working together dis- 

 covered the cause of Cremieu's negative results, and then 

 wrote up their work in a joint paper (Phys. Rev., 1903) 

 which established, probably for all time, the original 

 discovery. 



This incident is mentioned merely as an illustration 

 of that openness of mind, receptivity for new ideas, and 

 love of truth which is thoroughly characteristic of the 

 French man of science. It was this same attitude of mind 



1 [Drafting Committee: HENRY CREW, Northwestern University; 

 A. A. MICHELSON, University of Chicago; W. C. SABINE, Harvard 

 University. ED.] 



273 



