THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



379 



THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



THE CARXEOIE INSTITUTION. 



One of the most noteworthy events 

 in the history of science was the be- 

 quest of James Smithson, an English- 

 man dying in Italy, in 1829, of about 

 §500,000 to found at Washington 'an 

 establishment for the increase and dif- 

 fusion of knowledge among men.' 

 Equally important is the gift of Mr. 

 Andrew Carnegie of $10,000,000 to es- 

 tablish in Washington an institution 

 for the encouragement of ' investiga- 

 tion, research and discovery.' These 

 two foundations represent more than 

 an addition to the sum annually spent 

 on scientific work. They stand for 

 the spirit of science, not confined by 

 place or buildings, titles or degrees. 

 In foreign countries we are often 

 called worshipers of wealth and osten- 

 tation; in reply we need only point to 

 the Smithsonian and Carnegie institu- 

 tions, situated in the national capital, 

 but extending throughout the country 

 and beyond, quietly and powerfully 

 representing the highest ideals of 

 knowledge and research. 



The Smithsonian Institution under 

 Henry and Baird fostered science in 

 many directions, having been more or 

 less a factor in the establishment of 

 the National Library, the Weather 

 Bureau, the Geological and Coast Sur- 

 veys and the Fish Commission. It 

 still has under its charge the National 

 Museum, the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology and the Zoological Park. 

 The Carnegie Institution with twenty 

 times the resources of the Smithsonian 

 will henceforth be a great influence for 

 the advancement of knowledge. The 

 founder states that the primary ob- 

 ject is the promotion of research, and 

 specifies several directions in which 

 work w-ill be undertaken. The Insti- 



tution will probably supersede the 

 Washington Memorial Institution in 

 the function of utilizing for advanced 

 work the resources of the government 

 at Washington and elsewhere. It will 

 also aim to increase the efficiency of 

 universities and other institutions by 

 providing funds for investigations and 

 for fellowships. It will assist in the 

 publication of scientific work. It may 

 give salaries and pensions to permit 

 the continuous prosecution of research. 

 Mr. Carnegie shows much insight in 

 particularly specifying as one of its 

 objects ' to discover the exceptional 

 man in every department of study, when- 

 ever and wherever foxmd, and enable 

 him by financial aid to make the work 

 for which he seems specially designed, 

 his life work.' 



This is, indeed, the great need of 

 science — to find the men. Given the man 

 and there is no danger but that the 

 research, the discovery and the publica- 

 tion will follow. What is essential is 

 to secure for research the men best fit- 

 ted for it. Good men are needed for 

 all kinds of useful work; but on the 

 whole the business man, the lawyer or 

 the physician is less likely to contribute 

 to the general welfare than the inves- 

 tigator. But the investigator is ex- 

 actly the man whose profession is most 

 insecure. He never depends on his sci- 

 entific work for his support ; ' he must 

 earn his living by teaching, by admin- 

 istrative work or the like. A good 

 novel or a good picture has market 

 A'alue, a good research has none. The 

 author is not only unpaid, but is for- 

 tunate if his paper or book can be 

 properly published without expense 

 to himself. 



The number and quality of men en- 

 gaged in scientific work can apparently 



