SCIENCE IN EDUCATION. 6 7 -j 



economic uses to which they may be put. Science must be pursued 

 for her own sake, in the first instance, and without reference to any 

 pecuniary benefits she may be able to confer. We never can tell 

 when the most theoretical part of pure science may be capable of 

 being turned to the most important practical uses. Who could have 

 surmised, for instance, that in the early tentative experiments of 

 Volta, Galvani, and others last century lay the germ of the modern 

 world-grasping electric telegraph? Or when Wedgwood, at the be- 

 ginning of this century, copied paintings by the agency of light 

 upon nitrate of silver, who could have foretold that he was laying the 

 foundations of the marvelous art of photography? 



There can be no more pernicious doctrine than that which would 

 measure the commercial value of science by its immediate practical 

 usefulness, and would restrict its place in education to those only of 

 its subdivisions which may be of service to the industries of the 

 present time. Such a curtailed method of instruction is not educa- 

 tion in the true sense of the term. It is only a kind of cramming for 

 a specific purpose, and the knowledge which it imparts, being one- 

 sided and imperfect, is of little value beyond its own limited range. 

 I by no means wish to undervalue the importance of technical in- 

 struction. By all means let our artisans know as much as can be 

 taught them regarding the nature and laws of the scientific processes 

 in which they are engaged. But it is not by mere technical instruc- 

 tion that we shall maintain and extend the industrial and commercial 

 greatness of the country. If we are not only to hold our own, but 

 to widen the boundaries of applied science, to perfect our manu- 

 factures, and to bring new departments of Nature into the service of 

 man, it is by broad, thorough, untrammeled scientific research that 

 our success must be achieved. 



When, therefore, you are asked to explain of what practical use 

 are some of the branches of science in which you have been trained, 

 do not lose patience with your questioner, and answer him as you 

 think such a Philistine deserves to be answered. Give him a few 

 illustrations of the thousands of ways in which science, that might 

 have been stigmatized by him as merely abstract and theoretical, has 

 yet been made to minister to the practical needs of humanity. Above 

 all, urge him to attend some of the classes of Mason College, where 

 he will learn, in the most effectual manner, the intimate connection 

 between theory and practice. If he chance to be wealthy, the ex- 

 periment may possibly open his eyes to the more urgent needs of the 

 institution, and induce him to contribute liberally toward their satis- 

 faction. 



Among the advantages and privileges of your life at college there 

 is one, the full significance and value of which you will better appre- 



