GENERAL EDUCATION FOR ENGINEERS. 445 



If the engineering student is to acquire that general cultural train- 

 ing the lack of which is often made a reproach to him, and if the tech- 

 nical school is to find its full development in the university and not 

 as a separate institution, then the university must make provision for 

 this much needed instruction, unless it can be provided for all students 

 elsewhere. It will and should lead to the giving of courses differing 

 in character and differing in method of presentation from those now 

 offered to the specialist, but they may be none the less both useful and 

 inspiring. 



It is necessary for the specialist to know the methods of study of 

 his specialty ; it is necessary for the general student to know the results 

 of such study. Therefore, to be both useful and inspiring, such courses 

 must be given by men who are past masters in their line of work. 



This will be held by many to be a plea in favor of superficiality, and 

 if getting a general view of another line of work is superficiality, why 

 it is a superficiality of which many specialists might well be guilty. 

 The objectors to this kind of general knowledge lose sight of the fact 

 that no one who is thoroughly grounded in his own line of work is 

 likely to be damaged intellectually by such general information. Con- 

 scious of the limitations of his knowledge in his own field after years 

 of study, he is not likely to assume that he has mastered another field 

 as the result of a general lecture course in that subject. The chances 

 are, however, that the effect will be to broaden his views, to enlarge his 

 sympathetic understanding of the work of the specialist and to create 

 an atmosphere of mutual respect and consideration for one another's 

 line of work. In order to give such courses there must be an increase 

 in the teaching force in the various lines of work in our universities. 

 Certainly the work of the specialist, upon which progress in any given 

 field depends, must not be stinted for the sake of the seeker after gen- 

 eral knowledge. This is one reason why consolidation of the technical 

 school with the university, if the tendency toward specialization in the 

 latter continues, can not bring about economy in instruction. Justifi- 

 cation for such consolidation must be sought elsewhere, as shown above. 

 Not only engineering students, but all students pursuing special studies 

 in a university need general courses, and though it may not be possible 

 for us to become a nation of engineers, it is eminently desirable that 

 all educated persons should have at least some general knowledge of 

 engineering. Surely he can not be held to be truly educated who is 

 ignorant of the conditions which surround him, of the methods by 

 which his daily intellectual and physical needs are met. This training 

 is not for the purpose of making more half-baked experts, prepared to 

 pass snap judgments on matters beyond their ken, but for the purpose 

 of teaching them the importance of solving the problems of manufac- 

 ture, distribution and transportation correctly. These problems trans- 



