AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



789 



Campbell, Comstoek, Curtis, Doolittle, 

 HaJl, Hussey, Klotz, Leuschner, Payne, 

 Schaeberle, Watson and Woodward. Cer- 

 tainly the coming of Ajrassiz and BriinnoAv 

 was the real cause of greatly increased 

 scientific productivity in America. Some, 

 but not all, of those who worked under 

 Agassiz would have become naturalists 

 apart from his influence. The astronomers 

 from Michigan must in the main be at- 

 tributed to their environment. The men 

 had the necessary ability, but if Briinnow 

 had not gone to Michigan, they would 

 not have become astronomers; if they had 

 gone to the University of Pennsylvania, 

 they would have been more likely to 

 become physicians than astronomers; if 

 they had not gone to a university they 

 would not have become scientific men. 



It is certainly satisfactory if Ave can 

 attribute the inferiority of scientific per- 

 formance in America as compared with 

 Germany, France and Great Britain to 

 lack of opportunity rather than to lesser 

 racial ability. In Germany scientific re- 

 search has been made by the university 

 rather than the reverse. In Great Britain 

 also the universities have been potent, and, 

 in addition, its leisure class ha.s contrib- 

 uted greatly. Here prior to 1876 we had 

 no university in which research work Avas 

 adequately encouraged, and we have had 

 no amateurs comparable to those of Great 

 Britain. Professor Pickering found" that 

 of the 87 scientific men who were members 

 of at least two foreign academies, 6 were 

 Americans as compared with 17 from 

 Prussia, 13 from England and 12 from 

 France. In so far as our scientific pro- 

 duction is so measured, the reference is to 

 a generation ago, when our universities 

 were only beginning to develop and re- 

 search Avork was only beginning to be ap- 

 preciated. But it is a striking fact tliat 

 of the six distinguished Americans, three 

 are astronomers; and astronomy is the 



TJie Popular Science Monthly, October, 1908, 

 and January, 1909. 



only science in which tliirty years ago the 

 facilities for research work in this country 

 were equal to those of the leading Eu- 

 ropean nations. Of the remaining three, 

 two have not been engaged in teaching, 

 and the third has been practically freed 

 from teaching for his research work. We 

 may hope that when conditions become as 

 favorable for other sciences as tliey have 

 been for a.stronomy, the United States 

 will assume leadership in scientific pro- 

 ductivity. 



In order to answer questions such as 

 the extent to which the scientific work 

 accomplished in America is due to native 

 endowment, Avhether such endowment is 

 general or specific, how far it occurs in 

 family lines, what part of those endowed 

 are able to prove their ability, the in- 

 fluence of education and example, the 

 effects of opportunity, encouragement and 

 rewards, it is necessary to make a study of 

 individual cases. A large mass of mate- 

 rial is at hand concerning the relatives of 

 scientific men who have shown scientific 

 productivity or have attained distinction, 

 but these data are not in order for publi- 

 cation and should be supplemented by 

 answers to manj' enquiries. In the raean- 

 Avhile the writer may say that it is his 

 opinion that while we should welcome and 

 support a eugenic movement tending to 

 limit the birth of feeble-minded and de- 

 fective children and encouraging the birth 

 of those that are well endowed, it appears 

 that under existing conditions of knowl- 

 edge, law and sentiment, we can probably 

 accomplish more for science, civilization 

 and racial advance by selecting from the 

 thirty million children of the country- 

 those having suj^erior natural ability and 

 character, by training them and giving 

 tliem opportunity to do the work for which 

 they are fit. We waste the mineral re- 

 sources of the country and the fertility of 

 the soil, but our most scandalous waste is 

 of our children, most of all of those who 



