MANN j NATURE-STUDY AXD SCIENCE TEACHIXG 21 



exact purpose or aim of the society ; and this resolves itself into a 

 discovery of the fundamental principles of the subject, and of the 

 place of nature-study in schools. In other words, we must first 

 know what nature-study is for. Until the problem before us can 

 be stated accuratelv and specifically, the efforts of the society 

 will accomplish little; since it will be, as it were, shooting at 

 random, with small chance of hitting the mark. In the hope of 

 assisting in this definition of the aims of nature-study, the follow- 

 ing two working hypotheses are suggested as guides in the 

 future work. 



The attempt is often made to draw a sharp line of distinction 

 between nature-studv and that which usually passes under the 

 name of science in the high schools and colleges. Is this dis- 

 tinction real, or has it been forced on nature-study as a sort of 

 protection against the inroads of the later so-called science? 

 This is the first fundamental question. 



This question cannot be answered until we agree on a defini- 

 tion of what we mean by science; and upon the nature of the 

 definition accepted will depend the answer to the question. The 

 most universally accepted definition of science is this: "Science 

 is organized knowledge;" yet while this definition has much to 

 commend it, it is barren of results for the purposes of education, 

 since it points to no clue, either explicitly or implicitly, to the 

 motive that impels men to scientific work. Besides, it does not 

 tell the teachers anything about the aims of science in the course, 

 nor does it give any indications of the manner in which science 

 should be presented in order to obtain the highest educational 

 results. On the contrary it is frequently considered to contain, 

 by implication a justification for teaching science as a series of 

 organized facts, to be committed to memory without any con- 

 ception of the methods used in the organization of those facts. 

 Hence this definition will not prove of assistance in the present 

 connection. 



A much more vital and usefrd definition for the purposes of 

 education is this: "Science is problem-solving." This de- 

 finition is very rich with suggestion both as to the motive that 

 impels to scientific investigation, and as to the ways and means 

 of carrying on the work; for anyone who is able to solve 

 a problem must be able to recognize the motive in the curiosity 

 aroused by the problem, and to analyze ,with thought, the mental 



