490 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



For tlie administration of large interests, involving tlie control 

 of men and the building-up of great institutions, men of science 

 have over and over again demonstrated their fitness. In the scien- 

 tific societies of the world they have shown their capacity for organi- 

 zation, and in the management of schools and colleges their ability 

 has often been proved. Among the presidents of universities and 

 technical schools who have been drawn from the ranks of science 

 I may mention Eliot, of Harvard; Oilman, of the Johns Hopkins; 

 Dro^vn, of Lehigh; Jordan, of the Leland Stanford; Chamberlin, 

 of Wisconsin; Morton, of the Stevens Institute; and MendenhaU, 

 of the "Worcester Polytechnic. The Institute of Technology in 

 Boston has been directed successively by Rogers, Runkle, Walker, 

 and Crafts; the Columbia School of Mines was built up by a group 

 of scientific workers, aided by President Barnard; and the list might 

 be lengthened almost indefinitely. Have these men fallen below 

 the average of their fellows? Have they not shown at least as 

 high administrative ability as has been found elsewhere? The mere 

 statement of their names is a sufficient answer, and renders argu- 

 ment unnecessary. With them the scientific training has not been 

 a disqualification, nor even a handicap; it has rather been to their 

 advantage, for to it they owe much of the insight, the power to 

 grasp great problems intelligently, the ability to interpret evidence, 

 and the tendency to prompt and decisive action, without which suc- 

 cessful administration is impossible. 



Again, consider the scientific institutions of the world, the mu- 

 seums and observatories, and the various governmental organiza- 

 tions in which science is recognized. In our own country, the 

 Smithsonian Institution and National Museum were built up by 

 Henry and Baird, in spite of great and varied difficulties; the Coast 

 Survey was created by Hassler and Bache; and the Geological Sur- 

 vey was developed by a group of men among whom Hayden, King, 

 and Powell were pioneers. The last-named organization has been 

 controlled from the beginning by men of science, and the Coast 

 Survey has been weak only when under nonscientific management. 

 The Commission of Fish and Fisheries owes its existence and a great 

 part of its effectiveness to its creator, Baird; the Army Medical 

 Museum and Library represents the executive genius of Billings; 

 and in none of these institutions has partisan politics ever exerted 

 an appreciable influence. No bureaus of the Government have 

 been more wisely or more efficiently handled than those which men 

 of science have controlled; in none have there been fewer errors 

 or scandals; there is not one in which the essential purpose of its 

 existence has been better fulfilled. 



Instead, then, of excluding the scholar, the investigator, the 



