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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 





EDITOR'S TABLE. 



DEATH OF PROFESSOR YOUMANS. 



EDWARD L. YOUMANS, the pro- 

 jector of this magazine, and its 

 editor from the opening number, died 

 at his home in this city on the morning 

 of Tuesday, January 18th, in the sixty- 

 sixth year of his age. For nearly forty 

 years he has been before the public as 

 a teacher of science, either through his 

 published works, on the lecture-plat- 

 form, or in an editorial capacity; and 

 though it may almost be said that he 

 was cut off in the prime of his intel- 

 lectual powers, it has been the fortune 

 of few men of his generation to accom- 

 plish a larger amount of useful work. 

 Leaving it to others who, less drawn 

 by ties of kindred, and less dominated 

 by the influence of long association, 

 will be more competent to measure the 

 impress he has made upon American 

 ideas, it will be proper here to refer to 

 the purposes and hopes which animated 

 Professor Youmans in the establishment 

 and conduct of " The Popular Science 

 Monthly." 



For years before the plan of the 

 publication took definite form, he was 

 frequently heard to deplore the inhos- 

 pitable attitude of the periodical press, 

 particularly in this country, toward the 

 growing influence of science in the 

 world of modern thought, and it was in 

 order to open a way by which this 

 influence might the more readily find 

 access to the educated classes that the 

 publication of the "Monthly" was first 

 resolved upon. One of the earliest ob- 

 stacles encountered, even before the 

 magazine was fairly under way, was 

 the active hostility of more than one 

 of the leading periodicals of that time. 

 The conductors of several of these jour- 

 nals, literary as well as religious, wero 

 intolerant of the views to which it was, 

 among other things, the purpose of the 



"Monthly" to offer a channel of ex- 

 pression. Indeed, not only did they 

 refrain from printing the writings of 

 the leading scientific thinkers, but they 

 seemed ever ready to condemn any 

 means that might be employed to bring 

 those writings before the public where 

 they could be judged upon their merits. 

 This was so much the case fifteen years 

 ago, when the "Monthly" was started, 

 that not one of the prominent maga- 

 zines in the country would publish Mr. 

 Spencer's papers on the "Study of So- 

 ciology " ; yet so great was the change 

 in public sentiment on these subjects, 

 wrought by the " Monthly " under the 

 guidance of Professor Youmans, that 

 two of these very journals were among 

 the earliest and most liberal applicants 

 for Mr. Spencer's philosophical favors 

 when he visited America ten years later. 

 Professor Youmans's conduct of this 

 magazine has been marked by a sincere 

 devotion to the search for truth and the 

 diffusion of the most enlarged knowl- 

 edge; by a careful exclusion of the 

 merely sensational ; by a vigilant so- 

 licitude to avoid misleading its readers 

 through putting forth as science the 

 unaccredited theories which so persist- 

 ently seek public expression — with a 

 quick readiness to correct errors into 

 which he may have been inadvertently 

 betrayed ; and by a watchful care to 

 keep abreast of the progress of science, 

 particularly in its bearing on philoso- 

 phy, education, ethics, social economy, 

 etc.; and, above all, by constant ad- 

 herence to the principle that "the high- 

 est value of science is derived from its 

 power of advancing the public good." 



Loyalty to the spirit and principles 

 thus outlined was indicated in the 

 opening announcement of the " Editor's 

 Table " of the first number of the 

 "Monthly," where it was declared that 



