274 PHYSICS 



which prompted the French to invite another American 

 to Paris when they decided to determine the metre in 

 terms of the wavelength of light. 



A second characteristic of the French scholar is a 

 quality of mind best described, in terms of his own 

 language, as " clarte." It is that ability in clear exposition 

 which comes only to him who has studied the matter 

 profoundly. The lucidity of the French treatise is that 

 of an author who has renounced every idea which he has 

 not made thoroughly his own. 



A third characteristic of the French investigator is of 

 interest to every young man who is thinking of studying 

 abroad, namely, his vivacious good humor, his lightness 

 of touch, his cheerful, optimistic disposition. No one 

 esteems these traits more highly than the man who 

 works in a physcial laboratory. 



The high originality which is typical of the French 

 mind may, perhaps, be best illustrated by running briefly 

 over a few of the contributions which this nation has 

 made to some of the subdivisions of physics. 



A backward glance at the literature of the world soon 

 convinces one that the classics are not many in number. 

 The mature student of any subject, indeed, finds the 

 facts and phenomena multitudinous, while its principles 

 may usually be counted upon the fingers of two hands. 

 In like manner, one who considers the history of any 

 science finds not many names of the first rank. The chief 

 actors are few, but of these France has had a very large 

 share. 



If modern physics may be dated from the birth of 

 NEWTON and the death of GALILEO (1642) the time 

 when HUYGENS, DESCARTES, PASCAL, and TORRICELLI 

 were in their prime and if one makes an inventory of 

 fundamental ideas introduced during the nearly three 

 centuries which have followed that date, the chances 



