THE PROGRESS OF SCIEACE 



183 



THE PKOGKESS OF SCIENCE 



THE CONVOCATION WEEK 

 MEETINGS 

 The meetings of the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement, of Sci- 

 ence and of the twenty-one national 

 scientific societies affiliated with it, held 

 in New York City from December 26 

 to January 2, exhibited convincingly 

 the great progress that has taken place 

 in this country in scientific research 

 and in scientific organization. Twenty 

 years ago Brown Goode, who was better 

 informed than any other in regard to 

 the history of science ,in America, esti- 

 mated that our scientific men num- 

 bered about five hundred. There were 

 about 2.500 scientific men at the New 

 York meeting and about 800 scientific 

 papers were presented before the sec- 

 tions of the association and the special 

 societies. The growth of our scientific 

 institutions and ' the increase in the 

 number of our scientific men appear to 



be in a geometric ratio. There are now 

 at least 5,000 scientific men in the 

 United States, and it is by no means 

 impossible that twenty years hence the 

 number will be 50,000. And this is 

 but as it should be. There are 100,- 

 000 physicians and 500,000 teachers in 

 the country, and one half of the physi- 

 cians and one tenth of the teachers 

 might to advantage engage in scientific 

 research. The nation can certainly 

 afford to devote one tenth of its re- 

 sources and one tenth of its people to 

 ideal ends, and in the case of science 

 the conditions are favorable also on the 

 economic side, for the more we give to 

 science the- more we receive from it. 



It seems almost impossible to select 

 from the hundreds of scientific ad- 

 dresses, papers and discussions any for 

 special mention. Some people are dis- 

 appointed because no great discovery is 

 announced at such a meeting. As a 



Edward Kasxer, Professor of Mathematics Clifford Richardson, Director of the New 

 in Columbia University, Vice-president for the York Testing Laboratories, Vice-president for 

 Section of Mathematics and Astronomy. the Section of Chemistry. 



