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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



here, too, and doubtless if the question 

 were pressed it would come; but how 

 few among the scientifically trained 

 take homo to themselves heartily and 

 tboroughly the truth that if scientific 

 method is good for anything it is 

 good for everything ! But no one can 

 be a true and inspiring teacher of sci- 

 ence who does not feel in his inmost 

 consciousness this universal applicability 

 of scientific method, and who, in so far 

 as he has been initiated into that meth- 

 od, does not rejoice in a sense of glori- 

 ous liberty and power. It must be ac- 

 knowledged that not a few men of 

 " mere letters," as they are sometimes 

 called, have gained a fuller entrance 

 into the intellectual freedom which sci- 

 ence bestows than many who have made 

 science their special study. Such men 

 as teachers will be eminently success- 

 ful ; they will have an intuitive sense of 

 the distinction between essentials and 

 non-essentials ; they will grasp the roots 

 of their several subjects; their teaching 

 will have a certain organic quality that 

 will cause it to germinate in the minds 

 of others. 



If we were asked what is the most 

 characteristically or typically scientific 

 idea that the mind can entertain, we 

 should answer, with little hesitation. 

 The idea of utility . "Why? Because it 

 involves the two fundamental ideas of 

 the connection between cause and effect, 

 and of the adaptation of means to ends ; 

 and because it points to an object apart 

 from which science becomes mere intel- 

 lectual trifling. It is possible to take an 

 unduly narrow view of utility, but it is 

 in no way necessary. There is notliing in 

 the word itself to call for a narrow inter- 

 pretation. On the contrary, it suggests 

 the widest possible range of advantage 

 for the human race. The conception of 

 utility is one which we must more and 

 more apply to our systems of education. 

 In regard to any and every branch of 

 study, let us boldly ask, as it is our duty 

 to do, What are its uses? What is it 

 going to do for those who are exercised 



thereby? Has it a bearing on health of 

 body or of mind, or are its uses exclu- 

 sively social? In the latter case, do 

 they refer to permanent or to transitory 

 social conditions? If to transitory con- 

 ditions, how far is it desirable that these 

 should be allowed to mold the educa- 

 tion of the rising generation? No harm 

 can come of pressing these questions 

 one and all ; and till we have answers 

 to them careful and satisfactory an- 

 swers we shall have no true criticism 

 of modern education. If there is any- 

 thing in this wide world that should be 

 able to give a most rigorous account of 

 itself it is the education we give our chil- 

 dren. We started by saying it should 

 be scientific, and now with equal con- 

 viction we declare that the first step 

 toward being scientific is that it should 

 be useful. A useful education one 

 founded upon and justified by use is 

 itself a constant training in scientific 

 method and the best possible introduc- 

 tion to the scientific spirit. On the 

 contrary, an education that can not 

 constantly plead the justification of util- 

 ity makes so far for unscientific habits 

 of thought; for what can possibly be 

 more unscientific than effort without 

 definite and justifiable purpose? 



Some persons entertain a vague idea 

 that a dominantly scientific education 

 must be dogmatic intone, and therefore 

 an unsuitable preparation for practical 

 life, in which so many problems present 

 themselves that require tact and a care- 

 ful balancing of probabilities rather than 

 the strict methods of the laboratory. 

 Herein we see the fatal mistake of nar- 

 rowing our idea of science too much. 

 The logic of chemistry is one thing, the 

 logic of politics is another; but each 

 has its logic, each admits of scientific 

 treatment. As we pass from one to the 

 other we simply have to widen our 

 methods of inquiry, and allow for some- 

 what less of absoluteness in our conclu- 

 sions; but we need not lower the scien- 

 tific ideal, and as to the scientific spirit, 

 it can be seen to almost greater advan- 



