PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSES. 39 



and destined to be introduced far more extensively, is not imparted 

 merely as a series of rules, but witli the reasons for procedure explained 

 upon chemical, physical and physiological principles. Schools of 

 mechanical, electrical and mining engineering are monuments to the 

 confidence of the people in training in science. 



Science has revolutionized education. I have not the time now) 

 nor indeed the detailed information necessary, to prove this, but it is 

 more or less a matter of common knowledge that not so long ago a 

 classical education was the only one available, and law, medicine and 

 theology the sole occupations of men of education. The intellectual 

 training th^t the classical education gave and the culture that it im- 

 parted are undoubtedly of great value, but with the swift pace of 

 modern times, and the important part that science plays in so many 

 walks of life, the demand has arisen and been met for an education to 

 the useful. In this, time has frequently been shortened, and culture 

 as such curtailed, perhaps to too great an extent, but the chief aim, 

 that of teaching one to do something, has been met. I think, too, that 

 a scientific education to the useful may be, and is in most cases, as 

 rigid in discipline as a classical course, and perhaps even more efficient 

 as a means of training to think. Mathematics is always included, and 

 proper teaching of the sciences must of necessity train the reasoning 

 faculty, as well as heighten the powers of observation. The graduate 

 of a technical school is usually able to adapt himself at once to the 

 stern realities of active life, while the classical graduate, outside the 

 learned professions, may be as ignorant as a child upon much that 

 makes up modern life and activities. The demand for scientific edu- 

 cation is such that now no institution of any rank altogether neglects 

 it, and many of the universities have schools of technology. Un- 

 doubtedly a great mission of science is to serve mankind, by making 

 the material comforts of life more abundant. 



I should, however, be doing science a grave injustice were I to 

 leave you with the impression that she is merely the handmaid of the 

 Ijhysical pleasures. The study of science for its own sake yields a 

 pleasure of a loftier type. The joy of discovery, the satisfaction that 

 accompanies mere knowledge, is one of the rewards of education. How 

 often do we hear the carping comment, "What is it good for?" or, 

 "What's the use of studying that?" or, "That's all theory; I want 

 something practical." Now, these sentiments represent one aspect of 

 the case, and an important one, but I wish to insist that it is not, and 

 ought not to be, the only attitude. I have no sympathy for the man 

 who has no use for knowledge that cannot be turned into dollars the 

 next day. The satisfaction in life that accompanies an understand- 

 ing of the processes going on about us should be very great. Probably 



