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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



the more you seem to enjoy it, and the 

 greater is your evidence of apprecia- 

 tion, the longer we like you to stay. 

 Come repeatedly, stay a long time, and 

 if you enjoy the music we shall be glad 

 to give it to you. On the outside the 

 world is rushing. Do not rush in 

 ArcAdiA. And above all things, tell 

 the truth in both word and deed. 



Science in Journalism. 



[from the literary digest, new YORK 

 CITY.] 



The American people do not care 

 enough about sound and reliable scien- 

 tific information to pay what it is worth. 

 We are content with the pseudoscience 

 of the daily paper and an occasional 

 sensation of doubtful value in the 

 monthly magazine. This somewhat 

 pessimistic pronouncement is made edi- 

 torially by our best scientitic magazine. 

 The Popular Science Monthly (New 

 York, September), in announcing its 

 future differentiation into two separate 

 publications. This statement is based 

 on the fact that almost every serious 

 publication in the United States, de- 

 signed to give scientific news and in- 

 formation to the non-technically edu- 

 cated citizen, has lost money, and is still 

 losing it. The editor believes that this 

 condition is inevitable and that such 

 magazines, if they continue to exist, 

 must always show a deficit to be made 

 up by individual contributions or by 

 scientific organizations — now the more 

 usual method. Says the magazine 

 named above : 



"In a democracy, journals and a news- 

 paper press fit to educate people of all 

 sorts to an interest in science and to an 

 appreciation of its measureless value 

 for national and human welfare are 

 matters of the utmost importance. Un- 

 der an aristocratic regime, science, like 

 arts and letters, must be cultivated and 

 patronized from above. In Germany 

 the Imperial Government has directed 

 and subsidized its schools, universities, 

 and research institutions, and has aided 

 commercial enterprises based on ap- 

 plied science. In England men of 

 wealth have devoted themselves to 

 scientific research, as they have served 

 without payment as county magistrates 

 and members of Parliament. In both 

 countries and in France titles and social 

 position have been used as rewards. 



"Scientific research can not be under- 

 taken as a profession. In the existing 

 organization of society any service to 

 an individual or to a group of individ- 

 uals is paid for by them, but service 

 to society is usually not paid for at all. 

 If newspaper publishers, ammunition- 

 makers, or army officers succeed in 

 causing war they profit ; if they advo- 

 cate and maintain peace they suffer. 

 If lawyers reduce legal complexities 

 and delays, or if physicians decrease the 

 causes of disease, they sacrifice their 

 material interests. If a surgeon per- 

 forms an operation for cancer he may 

 be paid a thousand dollars for an hour's 

 work ; if he discovers an improved tech- 

 nique he may profit somewhat, but 

 scarcely more than other surgeons 

 and far less than the patients ; if he 

 should discover a cure for cancer he 

 would receive no money-reward; on 

 the contrary, he and other surgeons 

 would in so far lose their means of sup- 

 porting their families. 



"So scientific research, of greater 

 value than any other service to society, 

 is not paid for directly. It has been 

 mainly carried forward in this country 

 by inen employed to teach in colleges 

 and universities who, as amateurs, give 

 part of their time to it. In recent years 

 the national Government, endowed in- 

 stitutions and industrial establish- 

 ments have undertaken to advance re- 

 search on a business basis and the gain 

 has been very great. But in order to 

 maintain and increase the work under 

 democratic control, people must be 

 taught to value it, and for this purpose 

 the proper treatment of science in mag- 

 azines and newspapers is more impor- 

 tant than any other agency. 



"The problem is very difficult. One 

 does not expect a high school, a univer- 

 sity, or a museum to be self-supporting. 

 Even secondary schools for the children 

 of the rich are endowed. If the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History charg- 

 ed an entrance fee it would be an empty 

 place ; the fees for a year would not 

 support the institution for a month. On 

 the other hand, the side-shows of a 

 circus may be profitable. Science is so 

 commonly ill-treated in popular maga- 

 zines and newspapers that the very 

 words 'popular science' need to be re- 

 deemed. The sensational newspapers, 

 the side-shows of the circus, and the 



