President's Address 



SOME PIONEERS OF SCIENCE IN OHIO 



T. C. Mendenhall 



The Pioneers of Science in Ohio were also pioneers in the 

 more common meaning of the word. With few exceptions they 

 lived their lives during the first three quarters of the nineteenth 

 century. The period of their activity extended from that of the 

 hardy frontiersmen through the political turmoil and sectional 

 bitterness of the middle of the century, culminating in the civil 

 war, well on into the last quarter when the thinking portion of 

 mankind was startled into a recognition of the significance of 

 science by the revolutionary character of its numerous applica- 

 tions. 



There was little specialization in those early days. Science 

 itself had not yet specialized in any great degree. Those were 

 the happy days when men engaged (usually only during their 

 "spare hours") in exploring the mysteries of nature, might meet 

 in groups and discuss the latest news from the domain of astron- 

 omy, botany, chemistry, geology or phsics, each having an in- 

 telligent idea of what the others were talking about. 



Under the conditions prevailing in Ohio during the period 

 under consideration it would presumably follow that the so- 

 called natural history sciences would be most cultivated. For 

 these the field of observation was conterminous with the bound- 

 aries of the state and as it was largely an unstudied region their 

 pursuit would offer great attractions. Anything in the way of 

 original investigation in astronomy, barring the purely mathe- 

 matical side of that subject, would require an observatory; for 

 chemical or physical research at least a small room set aside 

 for the work must be available, together with a meagre supply 



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