296 SCIENCE 



dare to emerge from their narrow spe- that they in turn become bad teachers, 



cialties, which by the way, they rarely Ignorance, hke syphiHs, would be elim- 



do." inatcd if we could only make it spare 



Yes, I know. Much that passes for one generation. What a stride forward 



science is utterly trivial and many of its humanity would take if just one crop 



supposed devotees are dull followers of youngsters was put through the 



of a trade. Don't you, my friendly chal- hands of really good teachers! This is 



Icnger, make another error and mistake just pleasant day dreaming, we have 



the work for the thing. If you de- not enough good teachers nor prompt 



fine "science" as the produce of de- means of developing them. Yet the 



partments of physics, geology, botany, situation is not hopeless and civiliza- 



etc; and "scientists" as the men who tion has always had to pull itself up by 



people them; we are not talking quite its bootstraps, 



the same language. There is one more point to make 



Yet I must admit there is some- about teaching scientists and educators 



thing to your position. Scientists today in general, especially in this country, 



fall far short, on the average, of what Let me say it quickly and have it over 



one might expect from them. It is, for it is rather shameful. The truth is 



perhaps, possible to trace the reasons, that those in social and financial 



A century and more ago, science was power— donors, governments, founders 



an esoteric pursuit. The men who fol- —have so little confidence in professors 



lowed its call were amateurs, usually that they do not trust them to run 



wealthy or patronized. They worked themselves, let alone others. Almost 



largely as individuals at an avocation without exception, a separate body— of 



or hobby, like philatelists today, be- trustees, president, deans, and other 



cause they enjo^'ed it. They were eddies administrative officers— runs our uni- 



in the social stream, amusing or ludi- versifies and the faculty pretty much 



crous to the serious-minded of the time does what it is told. Administration is 



but not important. One cultivated often enough excellent, and academic 



science as one cultivates a garden, with- freedom is jealously guarded in any 



out ulterior motive beyond the satis- university worthy of the name, but the 



faction of watching its lovely flowers fact remains that our institutions of 



unfold. Not so today. Science became higher learning are painfully different 



useful, its flowers yielded expensive per- from a Republic of scholars, 



fumes and healing drugs, and it was Is it any wonder, then, that science 



taken up by the best society. Depart- has made no greater impress on the 



ments of science crowded into and mind of man and that scientists are so 



multiplied within universities, even often found wanting? They have 



high schools; research institutes sprang nearly all been taught badly, except in 



up; industry sprouted laboratories or some limited field of proficiency; they 



subsidized technical schools and plants; have been debased by the rapid and 



great foundations pumped nourish- incompletely assimilated influx of op- 



ment into all of these, aided here and portunists; they are little prized, except 



there by government. Technology for their technical skill; of course they 



spread everywhere, new industries are oblivious to or prejudiced about 



based upon it grew into gigantic stat- most problems of society, 



ure. And men were needed. Knowledge is cumulative in time, 



There is a cycle in education which generation building on generation, 



might be benign but is still vicious, while emotion is not. Perhaps cerebral 



Bad teachers teach students badly so control is increasing. Modern psychi- 



