50 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



The earlier renaissance gave to man the right and liberty to think and act as he 

 in his own judgment saw tit. The renaissance of to-day is leading - men to think, not 

 only with personal freedom, but accurately and rightly. Far be it from me to assert 

 that mankind in general are very much nearer to accurate and just standards of 

 judgment than they Avere four hundred years ago; but the spirit of today favors the 

 uutrammeled and searching investigation of every question in which man is concerned, 

 the critical comparison of the results of such investigation, and frank intolerance of 

 all illogical or unsound theory and application. This is the spirit of science, the spirit 

 of unprejudiced search after truth, and this is emphatically the spirit of the thinking 

 men of to-day in every part of the world. 



Whatever may be the ultimate and full outcome of the forces oow at work, it is 

 certain that a great industrial and economic revolution has already taken place, aud 

 that science is fully recognized as the power by which, in future, the material interests 

 of mankind are to be regulated. 



Speaking thus of science, it is not my purpose to include solely that body of pro- 

 fessional men who are customarily classified as "scientific men." I use the term in a 

 broader sense, with the meaning that every man who applies accurate observation 

 and deduction to the solution of any problem whatsoever is in some degree a man of 

 science. 



Science is knowledge, nothing less nor more. It is needless to add the word 

 exact, for knowledge which is not exact is not knowledge at all.* 



Science aims to be not only exact, but complete, and, when true to itself, never 

 attempts to conceal its own shortcomings. 



Scientific methods of work are simply methods based upon accurate knowledge 

 of what is already known and due allowance for the uncertainties of tbe unknown. 



Science implies not only complete and exact knowledge, but accurate methods of 

 thinking based upon it. When there are differences of opinion in regard to the solu- 

 tion of any scientific problem, there is but one way to arrive at the truth : There 

 must be further investigation. This will confirm or set aside the results of previous 

 researches and perhaps bring out new truths as well. Argument is often unscientific. 

 Darwin used little argument in his "Origin of Species" — that wonderful book which 

 has had more influence on the thoughts of the men of this century than any other not 

 religious or ethical. He marshaled his facts in classified ranks, and after a modest 

 suggestion of his own as to what their meaning might be, he left his readers to make 

 deductions for themselves. 



Fifty years ago the domain of science was much more restricted than now. Her 

 votaries were few, and there were among them but a limited number of scholars of 

 high ability. Men of energy and ambition found slight inducement to enter this field 

 of activity, for the rewards were manifestly not great, and even opportunities for 

 study and the discovery of truth — the greatest of possible rewards — were almost 

 entirely wanting. Economic science was in a crude state, and the circle of the sciences 

 was limited. The empirical methods of long ago were still very influential in almost 

 every department of study. 



* "Knowledge," says Cardinal Newman, "is called by the name of Science or Philosophy, when 

 it is uctcd upon, informed, or impregnated by reason/' 



