Iuj 



SCIENCE PROGRESS 



EDITORIAL 



In 1894 appeared the first number of Science Progress, a review 

 of current scientific investigation, which, conducted by Sir 

 Henry Burdett, K.C.B., and under the editorship of Prof. 

 J. Bretland Farmer, passed through seven volumes and earned 

 a recognised place for itself amongst the science journals of 

 the day. During the years which have elapsed since 1898, 

 the date of the last volume, regret has from time to time been 

 expressed that there was no British science journal devoted 

 to those comprehensive summaries of recent work, to those 

 general discussions of topics of interest to workers in all 

 branches of science, which were the predominant features of 

 the old publication and for which it was rightly valued. 



Last year regret gave place to hope, and with the valuable 

 support of the majority of the members of the Advisory 

 Committee of the former journal and others, whose names 

 appear elsewhere, efforts were made to found once again a 

 quarterly science review. These efforts took definite form with 

 Mr. John Murray undertaking the publication of the journal, 

 and we now present to our readers the first part of Science 

 Progress in the Twentieth Century, and hope that it will be 

 found worthy to maintain in the new century the traditions 

 its predecessor established in the past. 



Specialisation and the multiplication of scientific and 

 technical journals render it increasingly difficult, even for 

 those actually engaged in scientific work, to keep abreast of the 

 advance of knowledge and the trend of thought in more than 

 that portion of their own subject to which their attention is 

 especially directed. The difficulty is much greater for that larger 

 public which, although not avowedly scientific, is interested in 

 science and desirous of obtaining reliable information in not too 

 technical language regarding the results of recent research, the 

 problems which are awaiting or are in course of solution, and 

 the inter-relations between pure science and practice. 



It will be the main endeavour in the new journal, as in 



1 



