54 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



cooperation on a national and international scale. There 

 has been too little knowledge of progress elsewhere, and 

 of the relative value and timeliness of alternative problems 

 to be undertaken. A most promising sign for the future 

 lies in the proposed development of the National Research 

 Council in this country, and of similar councils in many 

 foreign countries. These councils will surely stimulate 

 and systematize all scientific research, without improperly 

 checking individual initiative and originality. 



Following development along the lines which I have 

 indicated, I trust the earth sciences will influence the 

 United States and the whole world to a marked degree in 

 the coming period. As a result of our participation in a 

 foreign war for democratic ideals, and as a result of the 

 w^orld trade in which we shall engage, we must have a 

 knowledge of foreign lands, their physical character, their 

 resources, and their peoples, together with a better 

 knowledge of our home country. A knowledge of human 

 geography is to become of great importance to our whole 

 population. Furthermore, for the solution of problems 

 leading to social and political unrest, and for the universal 

 establishment of justice, the world needs to know and to 

 rely on the orderly and inevitable processes of nature, 

 which are nowhere better exemplified than in the study of 

 the earth sciences. 



