president's address. 15 



careful minister or even Ihe conscientious member of i)arliament 

 could tind out the opinions which an ex]3ert body holds concern- 

 ing the institution for which he is asked to vote money. The 

 advisory bodv could suggest to those astronomers who have 

 sufficient equipment, but make no use of it, useful lines of 

 research. The ardent astronomer who cannot persuade his 

 government to provide funds would find himself in a stronger 

 position when he has behind him an international body. The 

 lethargic astronomer would find that his colleagues elsewhere 

 look to him to do his share. Better than all, it might be possible 

 to arrange that research students could visit and Avork at 

 observatories whose ec|uipment is not in full use. It would be 

 invidious to give exami)les of observatories not working up to 

 their potentialities — few can — but several make no attempt at 

 any work, and have become little better than sinecures* — it must 

 suffice to say that at least two of the observatories possessing 

 exceptionally large refracting telescopes have not contributed 

 one month's work from them in the last 20 years — their expen- 

 sive equiiMiient is idle and sknvly deteriorating — the output 

 from many others is disappointingly small. If some inter- 



national association had the i^ower to recommend that these 

 great telescopes were i)ut into commission, or ])etter still, to 

 assign research students to their use, it would be a good tiling. 



In ancient days princes and men of wealth founded religious 

 institutions called abbeys and monasteries. The}- did so because 

 they considered they were hel])ing the cause of humanity — and 

 for centuries these bodies did resp(^n(l to a real need — but the 

 need passed, and only effete institutions remained — ultimately 

 to be swept away — and to-day princes and men of wealth do nc^t 

 found abbeys. In modern times — the most ancient observatory 

 is not old — i)rinces and men of wealth found observatories 

 because they consider they are helping the cause of humanity. 

 It is unnecessary to push the analogy. The ardent astronomer 

 will not permit to to be pushed too far ; he will organise with 

 his colleagues for the adxaiicement of his science, and the con- 

 sequent enlargement of man's intellectual horizon. 



I have only dealt with the organisation of a branch of 

 Science somewhat widel}' detached from the current activities 

 of the \\'orld. It would have been too ambitious to sketch 

 the organisation of a state or of humanity at large. But such 

 organisation must come. The War every day is showing us 

 how necessary it is to organise for production — even if only 

 in the munitions of war — and not for profit. We are living 

 in dangerous times, times in which it behoves the man of 

 Science, who is actuated by no selfish interests, to exert his 

 power in remoulding the new society when the time, now near- 

 at-hand, comes. t 



* They may provide a time or meteoroloo;ical service of some local 

 importance, hut as institutions for research work of any kind their 

 efforts are negligibly small. At least 33 per cent, of the Observatories 

 listed in the Nautical Almanac publish nothiuQ-. 



tTlie interpretation of the social structure by means of analogies 

 drawn from the science of Biology appears especially ])romising. 



