IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 23 



surprise us by their munificence and freedom from ham- 

 pering conditions. Governments and parliaments have 

 felt the influence and have made enactments and appro- 

 priations greatly favoring and aiding the advancement of 

 pure science and promoting the extension of the benefits 

 resulting from its practical application to industrial 

 affairs. It is especially pleasant to me to be able to speak 

 my appreciation of the magnificent manner in which Con- 

 gress responded to the appeal for a standardizing bureau, 

 a movement which was set on foot, fostered and pushed 

 by the science men of the country, and to which this 

 academy gave its earnest, and, as it proved, most effective 

 support and aid. 



This same popular interest in science and science edu- 

 cation has also loosened the purse-strings of many state 

 legislatures and caused them to become more liberal 

 toward their universities and other scientific schools and 

 establishments. Our own law-givers, the men who offi- 

 cially reflect the popular disposition and give formal 

 expression to the popular sentiment in our common- 

 wealth, will honor themselves by dealing with our institu- 

 tions of learning in a manner entirely befitting the dignity 

 and wealth of the state, the standing of her scholars and 

 science men, and the acknowledged eminence of her whole 

 people in respect to intelligence and enterprise. 



One matter sugo-ested by this mass of writing on science 

 progress, is the relationship and interdependence of the 

 different sciences. This would however, form too vast a 

 subject for a single short paper. 



A sufficiently ambitious theme for the present occasion 

 may be found in the relation of physics to tlie other 

 branches of natural science, and her position among them, 

 let us say, as a sister and servant. Noticing briefly some 

 of the more salient and obvious points of contact, certain 

 contrasts will doubtless become apparent, but in the main 

 there will be found similarity and substantial identity in 

 aims and methods. 



Such a study, in which the aims of a large body of 

 workers in a given line, their methods and standards, the 



