2i6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



then it is the duty of the university not only to teach known principles 

 and methods, but to advance knowledge and methods by research. 



It is futile to say that it is sufficient to teach and to utilize known 

 methods for freeing peoples from difficulties, for the mere statement of 

 such an attitude implies that an obligation exists to extend known 

 methods or invent new ones in the hope of overcoming difficulties, 

 acknowledged to be at present without remedy. The ethical force of 

 this statement can not be denied. To teach a subject implies the 

 attempt to diffuse the available knowledge of that particular subject 

 matter among a number of people for their good as well as for the good 

 of the community in which they live and work; equally true it is that 

 such an attempt to teach available knowledge imposes upon the teacher 

 the obligation to leave untried no means by which the knowledge of his 

 subject may be increased. It is not the privilege of the teacher to leave 

 this extension of knowledge to others. His profession of ability to 

 teach a particular subject carries with it his obligation to the group or 

 community he serves, of adding to his subject, knowledge of which they 

 may avail themselves. If this applies to the individual teacher, how 

 much more forcibly does it apply to the university with its ever-widen- 

 ing community and ever-increasing interests? 



But ethics are frequently set aside in our practical, every-day world 

 and even if they are not the great expense of maintaining laboratories 

 and a hospital, an expense greatly increased if research is properly 

 prosecuted, causes university presidents and trustees to ask what are the 

 practical advantages of research to the university ; and in those institu- 

 tions which are supported, in part or entirely, by the state, this question 

 must be squarely met. 



In presenting the arguments in favor of research in the university, 

 I will consider only conditions in this country and will not, though it 

 would greatly strengthen the argument, utilize the experience of the 

 German universities. One of the most important advantages, and one 

 which should appeal to those controlling the policy of a university, is 

 the influence on the student. 



If one examines courses in the same subject in a number of schools, 

 it is found that those which are best presented are under the control of 

 men actively engaged in research work. Such men are alive to the 

 advantages of new methods in their own subject and of new ways of 

 applying old methods. Ever thinking and pondering about methods of 

 acquiring new knowledge for themselves and their science, they appre- 

 ciate better than does the non-investigator that which will aid the 

 student to acquire knowledge, and in their teaching they bring to bear 

 on the problems which the student has to face the same methods of 

 attack which they use in their own researches. Under these men are 

 assistants of the same point of view, who, ever enthusiastic about their 



