46 brooks: applied geology 



from personal experience the value of applying the sciences of 

 agriculture and chemistry. On this continent McClure, Eaton, 

 Rodgers, Owen, Leslie, Logan, Whitney, Orton, Cook, Dawson, 

 and King, with a host of others, were all identified with the indus- 

 trial application of their science. The elder Silliman, in an 

 account of his own training in geology, said: "I learned in the 

 mining districts how and what to observe." The years that Dana 

 spent on explorations may be counted in the field of applied 

 geology. James Hall, for two generations the leader in American 

 geology and the founder of that organization which for three- 

 quarters of a century has preserved the highest scientific ideals, 

 gained his early inspiration in studying practical problems. An 

 enumeration of the leading geologists of the present generation 

 will, I think, show that the larger part have given much attention 

 to the material application of geology. 



The recent economic trend of geology is only a counterpart of 

 similar tendencies in most fields of scientific research. The intro- 

 duction of science into practical affairs is a feature of the present 

 age. It has come about not only because, as the sciences pro- 

 gressed, their results were more directly applicable to material 

 problems, but more specially because of the gradually changing 

 conditions throughout the world. With a sparse population and 

 abundance of natural resources the need of applied science is 

 never so evident as when the lands become crowded and the more 

 readily accessible resources depleted. The people of a virgin land 

 need pay small heed to exhaustion of soil or destruction of forests, 

 and can carry on shallow mining operations with little recourse to 

 science or technology. It is only when increasing population re- 

 sults in a demand for a greater food supply and makes sanitation 

 important; when the depletion of timber becomes a factor in cost 

 of structures; and the superficial deposits can no longer yield 

 sufficient minerals, that the need of scientific knowledge becomes 

 strongly emphasized. This stage has been reached in most of the 

 civilized countries of the world to a greater or less extent, and the 

 evils of relative over-population and depletion of nature's wealth 

 are resulting in an appeal to applied science. China stands alone 

 among the great nations of the world in not utilizing scientific 



