610 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



scientific one. We still have — and let us hope will continue to 

 have — our Keplers, Newtons, Watts, Kelvins, etc., in the forefront 

 of science, but the scientific spirit, instead of being confined to 

 the few, is now diffused amongst the many, with the result that 

 hardly any undertaking is considered complete unless it is stamped 

 with the hall-mark of science. Science has gone steadily forward, 

 until to-day one discovery comes after another with such rapidity, 

 and with such far-reaching effects, that we are apt to lose the 

 true sense of perspective in the very frequency with which they 

 are brought before us. 



Moreover, I take it to be a fact that discoveries in modern 

 times have a more direct, and a more instantaneous, effect upon 

 the nation at large than like discoveries would have had in times 

 gone by. And the reason is not far to seek. Our use of the 

 word " technical " shows it. For what does it imply? Simply 

 that an intimate connection exists, and is acknowledged to exist, 

 between science in theory and science in practice. It is the 

 word we employ to denote our sense of the intimate and 

 necessary relationship between knowledge gained and the 

 application of it ; a truth the acknowledgment of which has been 

 somewhat tardy, but one which now marks a new phase in the 

 history of scientific development. It marks the democratising, 

 so to speak, of science. 



I take, then, the influence of science at the present day to be 

 twofold : (i) There is the direct effect of scientific discoveries 

 themselves ; the material gain. (2) There is the influence due 

 to the diffusion of scientific knowledge, or, as we may say, to the 

 equality of opportunity of acquiring that knowledge and training ; 

 in other words, the influence due to technical education. 



Such being the effect of science generally, let us look for a 

 moment at the sciences in particular. To trace the evolution of 

 the various sciences is an interesting matter in itself, but it is 

 beyond the scope of this article, except to notice it in the briefest 

 manner. In days gone by, when the sum-total of knowledge 

 was small as compared with that of the present time, few divi- 

 sions sufficed to express it, and there were consequently few 

 sciences. But as time went on, and man discovered more and 

 more of nature's hidden things, it became necessary to specialise 

 and form branches of knowledge ; and hence, by degrees, arose 

 the various sciences — astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, 

 etc. This evolution of the sciences has gone on in common 



