EVOLUTION AND SOCIETY 



and gradually weaving its accumulating knowledge 

 into a single homogeneous garment. The history of 

 science has been just the reverse. After a brief period 

 of synthesis, during which both in physics and biolo- 

 gy it seemed as if universal laws were being estab- 

 lished which covered all the known facts, we have 

 passed into a period marked by extreme disintegra- 

 tion of ideas and by metaphysical hypotheses. The ac- 

 cepted generalizations of the last century lie shat- 

 tered and discredited. 



They taught that pure science should be the focus 

 of our educational system. The study of the humani- 

 ties has steadily decreased but with it there is an 

 equal neglect of pure science ; the emphasis in teach- 

 ing is now directed almost entirely towards vocational 

 and practical courses. Great laboratories have arisen 

 everywhere, in which men of science should be able to 

 devote themselves unhampered to the cultivation of 

 pure science; but these buildings are thronged with 

 professional students who care only for the material 

 and industrial applications of science, and the lonely 

 cultivators of pure knowledge spend their time teach- 

 ing those who look upon science only as a laborious 

 and unavoidable prerequisite to their real business of 

 life. Imagine Huxley's disgust if he had realized that 

 our scientific educators would cite him as a proof that 

 the study of hat-making and manual training was as 

 effective for an educational descipline as biology or 

 physics. 



C 325 3 



