Miscellaneous Papers. 119 



AMERICA'S OPPORTUNITY IN SCIENCE. 



By George ^^'. Tiiii.. 



WHILE the planet is shattered by the turmoil of a world 

 war, it is well for us to take an account of the position 

 that our country occupies in scientific achievement. There 

 never was a time when things needed to be better done than 

 now. To get the proper perspective is our need. We are most 

 apt to view things as they relate immediately to our affairs. 

 The proper relation to be sought is that of a world civilization. 

 The war drum is heard in the centers of European scientific 

 culture. Their laboratories are deserted by the workers for 

 the battle front. Test tubes and culture media have been left 

 for the bayonet thrust and carnage of battle. The hand skilled 

 in the accuracy of measurements in the research laboratory 

 now uses the entrenching spade, and the eye trained in spec- 

 trum determinations now sights the deadly rifle at brother 

 scientists. Some have fallen, others languish in prison, to 

 return at the close of the war to resume their scientific labors 

 with weakened physical powers and faculties blunted by the 

 scenes and terrors of battle. Never again can they have that 

 mastery of their powers demanded by research. The bitter- 

 ness of race hatred and the enmity of international strife 

 rankle in the breasts where once flourished the spirit of scien- 

 tific comraderie and cooperation. Billions of dollars are being 

 wasted in war's destructiveness, leaving nought for the needs 

 of scientific work. 



Shall we allow the onward progress of world development 

 to cease, or, as the leading industrial nation, assume the obliga- 

 tion of doing the world's intellectual and scientific work. This 

 is America's opportunity. The horror of the European con- 

 liict is spreading a pall over the whole civilized world. A 

 stagnation is felt in our industrial and business affairs which 

 is gradually spreading into the intellectual pursuits. Let us 

 arise and shake off this torpor. It will require a generation 

 for Europe to recover from its titanic struggle. Shall we 

 hesitate and allow the progress of civilization to be retarded 

 for that period? 



Hitherto America has been a third-rate power in scientific 



