zo THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Only what has within it the seeds of mortality can be killed, and re- 

 ligion and imagination are outside of science ; but ecclesiasticism, which 

 has been built by men, can be destroyed by men, just as literary con- 

 ventions, which were the work of scholars, can be torn to shreds by 

 scholars and writers. 







PHYSICS m GENERAL EDUCATION* 



By Professor T. C. MENDENHALL. 



THIS is an " Association for the Advancement of Science." But 

 the forces which have to do with aiding or retarding this ad- 

 vancement are so various that we are in danger of losing sight of 

 some of them. We are mistaken if we suppose that science is ad- 

 vanced only through contributions which are the result of original re- 

 search in our laboratories and libraries. Even if so narrow a view be 

 taken, it will be admitted that the talent for research is fostered and 

 encouraged, if not indeed created, by an atmosphere of recognition 

 and appreciation. The existence of such an atmosphere is in itself a 

 blessing, and its production is certainly worthy of our highest efforts. 



To this end it is desirable and necessary to bring about a more 

 general diffusion of accurate knowledge concerning the elementary 

 principles and propositions of the science of physics, as well as some 

 degree of familiarity with the methods of physical investigation. I 

 do not refer, of course, to the demands or the necessities of those who 

 expect to undergo a course of training for the purpose of becoming 

 themselves physicists, but rather to the diffusion of this knowledge 

 among the masses of educated people in general. 



That this diffusion is not taking place to any great extent, and will 

 not, according to natural laws alone, is patent to any observing physi- 

 cist, who can not fail to have come in contact with prevailing and 

 pernicious errors, which often carry the weight of repetition, and now 

 and then of recognized authority. 



I am aware that this is not an association of educators, and that 

 pedagogics is not, as yet, one of the sciences specifically indicated as 

 worthy of advancement at our hands ; but, if the growth of a tree is 

 to be made healthy and permanent, it is not safe to neglect the soil 

 into which its roots penetrate. Train it and prune it as you will, to 

 grow into vigor and strength it must spring from a rich and generous 

 earth which, though beneath it and below it, must be in harmony with 

 it in order to supply the proper and necessary materials for its suste- 

 nance. 



* Substance of a vice-presidential address delivered before the Section of Physics at 

 the Montreal meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Au- 

 gust, 1882. 



