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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



in the theory of evolution, as expounded 

 by Spencer, and coupled by him with a 

 strong: assertion of the rights of the in- 

 dividual. Evolution as a world-grasp- 

 ing hypothesis, and "the law of equal 

 liberty " as the charter of individual 

 rights, made an absolutely irresistible 

 appeal to the deepest instincts of the 

 late Professor's nature; and it is no 

 wonder, therefore, that in them he 

 found an abiding anchorage. 



"We need only mention, in passing, 

 the important work done by Prof. You- 

 mans in arranging for the publication of 

 the International Scientific Series, of 

 which over seventy volumes have now 

 been issued ; but it is fitting that we 

 should speak a little more fully on the 

 subject of his establishment of The 

 Popular Science Monthly. Even before 

 he became interested in Spencer he felt 

 that there was a great need in this coun- 

 try for a periodical which should be de- 

 voted to popularizing, not so much the 

 results, as the methods of science. He 

 was too much of a philosopher ever to 

 forget that what the people want, far 

 more than a diet of facts, is education in 

 correct thinking, in the right use of their 

 intellectual faculties. He fully believed, 

 with Spencer, that natural science af- 

 fords incomparably the best means of 

 discipline for the mind ; and after he 

 had become impressed with the impor- 

 tance of that writer's general scheme of 

 thought, he was more than ever desir- 

 ous of establishing a magazine that 

 might help in the propagation of sound 

 scientific views. How suddenly in the 

 end The Popular Science Monthly sprang 

 into existence, the biography will tell ; 

 and on what sound lines it was drawn 

 may be judged from the fact that in the 

 course of twenty-two years those lines 

 have never been departed from. The 

 Popular Science Monthly is to-day what 

 it was in the first year of its existence, 

 and what its name imports. It is not 

 intended for specialists, though special- 

 ists have made many valuable contribu- 

 tions to its columns. It aims to bring 



before intelligent readers the best and 

 most interesting results of contemporary 

 scientific activity, and to keep science 

 as a power, as a method, as an inspira- 

 tion, as the ally of humanity in its war- 

 fare against evil, prominently before the 

 public mind. The magazine has had its 

 own battles to fight, and, in its earlier 

 years particularly, a good deal of mis- 

 representation to encounter. It has 

 been accused of liostility to particular 

 modes of belief, simply because it has 

 wished to open paths of independent 

 investigation in all subjects. It has, 

 however, outlived most of the prejudice 

 that at one time it excited, and to-day 

 is welcomed in every part of the coun- 

 try as one of the most useful of educa- 

 tional agents, as affording just that aid 

 to sound living and right thinking which 

 it was the most earnest desire of its 

 founder that it should afi'ord. 



To some it has appeared that the 

 Monthly set too small value on literary 

 culture, and tliat its late director was 

 too contemptuous in his attitude toward 

 classical studies. In all questions of 

 this kind, however, a time element en- 

 ters. Twenty odd years ago it w^as 

 hard work to get any kind of proper 

 recognition for science in schemes of 

 education ; and many sophisms that 

 have since been exploded as to the ne- 

 cessity of the study of the classics for 

 the formation of a good literary style, 

 or for the right discrimination of words, 

 or even for the proper development of 

 the logical faculties, were then widely 

 current and aggressively asserted. It 

 was necessary, therefore, for a periodical 

 that had been started with the express 

 object of championing the claims of 

 science, to put its own case as strongly 

 as possible, and attack with vigor what 

 it considered the errors of the older 

 educational systems. If sometimes it 

 pushed its criticisms too far, that is 

 only what happens when any warfare 

 is being keenly waged. That the 

 founder of the Monthly was no enemy 

 of culture in the widest sense, all who 



