ESSAYS 



PURE SCIENCE IN RELATION TO THE NATIONAL LIFE. 



Being a Lecture delivered on February 15 by Arthur Schuster, D.Sc., 

 F.R.S., in a Course on Science and the Nation, arranged for Science 

 Teachers by the London County Council Education Committee. 



In discriminating Pure Science from Applied Science, we draw a distinction 

 between two branches of learning without defining how they are related. They 

 might be separate avenues leading independently to different goals, or they might 

 be connected like the branches of a tree to its stem. If we put our trust in the 

 plain meaning of words, the terms used seem to support the second interpretation, 

 as we perceive if we replace the word "science" by its primitive equivalent 

 "knowledge." Before knowledge can be applied, it must exist ; and knowledge by 

 itself alone is not worth having unless it can be applied. If this reasoning were 

 correct and contained the whole truth, I might here conclude my discourse, for I 

 should have nothing to add to what previous speakers have told you in this series 

 of lectures. We are all agreed that science lies at the foundation of all great 

 industrial developments ; and these have already been sufficiently pressed on your 

 attention. But something more should be said by those who believe that science 

 has a function beyond that which culminates in the workshop or factory, and who 

 maintain that pure science renders an important service, related to an independent 

 part of what is commonly called " national life." 



A nation, like an individual, must first of all look after its existence. It must 

 be fed, and is therefore obliged to foster its commercial and industrial activity. 

 But the material comfort which may thus be obtained is worthless unless the 

 opportunities it offers be worthily used. To this end the national life must supply 

 something more than the means for the continuation of its existence, and provide 

 for mental as well as bodily health. As I have expressed it on another occasion ' : 

 " the duty to work, the right to live, and the leisure to think, are the three prime 

 necessities of our existence, and when one of them fails we only live an incomplete 

 life." 



It is a truism to say that no knowledge is worth having which cannot be applied ; 

 if it cannot be used, it must be useless. But knowledge can fructify in various 

 ways : it may be applied to increase the wealth of the nation, it may add to the 

 pleasure of life, or it may serve to strengthen our sense of moral responsibility. 

 Instead of taking Pure Science to be merely the foundation of its industrial appli- 

 cations, I look upon it rather as ministering to the mental health of the nation, 

 iust as Applied Science ministers to its material prosperity. In this it fulfils the 

 same functions as literary or artistic pursuits. But it has besides a special value : 

 it teaches us something of the nature that surrounds us ; it helps us to understand 

 the conditions of life, and to base our judgment on reasoning rather than instinct. 

 Looking to the end rather than to the means, we must draw the separating line 



1 Presidential Address, British Association, 1915. 



307 



